Sri Lanka Association of Airline Representatives holds 28th AGM

SLAAR Chairperson Thanuja Lankathilake

AASL Director Operations Shehan Sumanasekera

The 28th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Sri Lanka Association of Airline Representatives (SLAAR) was held at the Taj Samudra Hotel, Colombo, on 28 October. Keeping up with the new normal, the AGM was conducted as a hybrid event where several attendees participated remotely via Zoom. 

Airport & Aviation Services Sri Lanka Director Operations Shehan Sumanasekera attended the occasion as the Chief Guest. 

The newly-appointed committee consists of Thanuja Lankathilake (Chairperson – GSA Air India), Gerard Victoria (Immediate Past Chairman – Hayleys Aviation), Gyan Amerasinghe (Deputy Chairman – GSA Emirates), Shamith Wijethilake (Secretary – GSA Maldivian Airlines), Dumindu Amarathunge (Treasurer – Leisure Cargo Lanka), Srimath Fernando (Asst. Treasurer – GSA Saudia), Chaminda Silva (Committee Member – GSA Jazeera Airways), Niranjan Athapaththu (Committee Member – GSA Kuwait Airways), Praharshini Bolling (Committee Member – GSA Singapore Airline), Sudeshinie Jayawardena (Committee Member – GSA Qantas Airways), Sashini Muthuthanthri (Committee Member – GSA Indigo), Sajith Amarasekera (Committee Member – GSA Malaysia Airlines) and Santhush Udumalagala (Committee Member – GSA Malindo Air).

Addressing the gathering, the re-elected Chairperson of SLAAR, Thanuja Lankathilake said, “SLAAR has always stood for innovation and adaptability and switched to digital platforms at the onset of the pandemic. We have had numerous discussions with the Board of Airline Representatives, tourism authorities, and other industry stakeholders during the past year to find common ground on industry-related issues in the current context.”

Speaking at the event, Chief Guest Sumanasekera emphasised the significance of the BIA and MRIA Airports towards developing the aviation and tourism industries in Sri Lanka and briefly highlighted future advancements in store for these international airports. He also appreciated the SLAAR for its contribution towards the betterment of the aviation industry in the country. 

The event also saw the successful launch of SLAAR’s dynamic new logo designed to suit the futuristic vision of the association and the modern age of aviation. 

SLAAR was formed on 22 June 1993 to provide offline airline GSAs with a forum to take up industry-related issues, policies and matters arising from representation. The scope of the association was later expanded to include online GSA for passenger and cargo representatives.