SriLankan Airlines Group sweeps State sector at National Energy Efficiency Awards

The SriLankan Airlines Group stamped its class as an institution that is in the forefront of environmental conservation, when it swept the ‘State Sector Buildings – Large Scale’ category at the Vidulka National Energy Efficiency Awards 2012.

The National Carrier won the only Silver Award in the category, while its subsidiary SriLankan Catering Ltd. was awarded the sole Bronze Award. There were no Gold awards presented in this category. The awards are organised by the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority and the Ministry of Power and Energy. SriLankan Airlines and SriLankan Catering Chairman Nishantha Wickremasinghe received the awards from Minister for Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa at a glittering ceremony on 19 August at the Hilton Colombo.

Wickremasinghe said, “SriLankan Airlines takes great pride in being a global leader in conservation in the international air transport industry. The airline works according to the motto of ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’ in all its operations. In 2012 we greatly strengthened our conservation efforts with the formation of a Go Green Team that strategically planned and executed all our environmental programs, an initiative that has clearly resulted in success.”

The airline’s Director/CEO Kapila Chandrasena said, “SriLankan adopted a Corporate Environment Policy as far back as 2008, and set up specialised units to spearhead conservation, including an Environmental Strategy and Compliance Unit, and an Aviation Fuel Department to monitor and optimise fuel usage. The airline has been inducting newer aircraft, which are more fuel efficient, and retiring older aircraft in the fleet. We also have a Corporate Environmental Policy, and a Corporate Energy Policy, all of which guide our Company and our staff towards the greater goal of conservation.”

Among the measures the airline has initiated are paperless ticketing, ground vehicles adhering to emission standards, usage of recyclable materials on board, regular cleaning of aircraft exteriors to reduce wind drag in flight, limiting aircraft engine usage while on ground by using ground power units for air conditioning and support vehicles for towing aircraft, carrying minimum levels of fuel, and sorting of waste materials on board aircraft. SriLankan Catering CEO Sarath Fernando said, “SriLankan Catering holds the certification of ISO 14001:2004 for Best Environmental Practices and are extremely proud to do our part in conservation. Our efforts have already won us the ‘Green Jobs’ Award from the Ministry of Environment, a Gold Award in Waste Management at the National Green Awards, and the National Energy Efficiency Gold Award last year.” SriLankan Catering was awarded with the most prestigious Mercury award by International Flight Catering Association for its waste management/Energy conservation in year 2011.   SriLankan Head of Human Resources Pradeepa Kekulawala who is a co-chair of the Go Green Team, said, “SriLankan recently set in place a modern Energy Management System, which has resulted in considerable energy savings. This is no easy task since most of the airline’s operations are on a 24-hour operation, 365 days a year basis. It was carried out by our Go Green Team comprising Rasika Gamage, Captain Anushad Liyanagoda and Buddhika Hewawasam. Our goal is to achieve ISO 50001:2011 certification in Energy Management.”

The Energy Management System included in-depth analysis of energy consumption, setting of annual targets for reduction of usage, detailed energy audits and reporting procedures, awareness programs among the company’s 6,000 staff on methods of eliminating energy wastage, installation of the most efficient lighting and air-conditioning, installation of power factor correction capacitor banks, adjustment of air-conditioning units for optimum energy usage, etc. targeted areas included air conditioning, IT equipment, aircraft ground power units, lighting, and tools and machinery.

SriLankan also has a continuous program to enhance efficiency of aviation fuel usage, and was the first airline in Asia to launch the concept of ‘Planet Friendly Flights’ utilising best practices such as fully recyclable materials on board, most efficient use of aircraft engines, reduced weight of on-board items, e-ticketing, waste separation on board by cabin crew, etc. Its efforts received official recognition from the European Union Emission Trading Scheme.