Cathay Pacific extends ‘Do it yourself’ policy to SL; ends deal with Finlays

Given the strong and sustained growth in Sri Lanka, Cathay Pacific has decided to shift to self-handling operations in Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

The move will result in the termination of the General Sales Agency (GSA) agreement with Finlays Plc. 

The global carrier said internationally it has moved away from GSA arrangements for online ports and the GSAs in Sri Lanka and the Maldives are some of the few remaining online ports in the network.

“Therefore the GSA arrangement between Cathay Pacific Airways and Finlays Colombo Plc will not be renewed and will terminate on 31 December 2015, the end of the current agreement,” a joint statement said.

Cathay Pacific Airways is one of the world’s leading airlines, offering scheduled cargo and passenger services to 174 destinations around the world, including daily return flights to Colombo from its Hong Kong hub. The airline also offers direct services from Colombo to Bangkok and Hong Kong. Finlays has served as a general sales agent for Cathay Pacific for Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Cathay Pacific Airways launched the first and only direct non-stop service between Colombo and Hong Kong on 27 October 2014.

Passenger performance remained well above target with healthy year-on-year growth in 2014. On the Cargo front, the new direct flights helped increase tonnage and narrowed a revenue gap arising from earlier sub-optimal connection times to Japan and North America. The daily passenger aircraft service continues to be complemented by a bi-weekly freighter from Colombo. 

Cathay Pacific Airways was once again named ‘World’s Best Airline’ in the annual Skytrax World Airline Awards in 2014. This is the fourth time Cathay Pacific has received the World’s Best Airline honour - the only airline to achieve such a feat. The carrier also took the title in 2003, 2005 and 2009. 

Finlays Colombo Plc, which is the holding company of entities of the Finlays Group, continues with its principal activities which include blending and packaging of tea for export.

Established in Sri Lanka in 1893 when Sir John Muir opened an office in Colombo, the initial business of Finlays was managing tea and rubber plantations. Currently it also does tea warehousing, temperature controlled logistics, wholesale courier and environmental services and pest control businesses as well as insurance broking and marine cargo surveying.