What We Do

SriLankan Airlines recently signed on House of Lonali as the official designer and supplier for the airline’s signature upcycle project, ‘Mathaka.’ House of Lonali is a Sri Lankan organization that designs, and manufactures upcycled lifestyle products and they will help create a variety of unique products for SriLankan using the airline’s scrap material that would have otherwise ended up in landfill.

The SriLankan Airlines’ Environment Unit successfully concluded another subproject under its master Upcycle Project by donating repurposed wheelchairs to the residents of the Sarana Buddhist Foundation’s home for the elderly on 11 February 2022. The donation of wheelchairs was complemented with a further contribution of essential items to the home by staff members of SriLankan Airlines and through the collective team efforts of the Human Resources (HR) Division and SriLankan Cares, the community development arm of the Airline.  

SriLankan Airlines featured ‘Mathaka’, it’s latest up-cycled lifestyle accessory range at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion week – Sri Lanka, last Friday on 10^th December 2021 at the Colombo Innovation Towers. SriLankan collaborate with Ms. Lonali Rodrigo of House of Lonali’ s, the talented local eco-designer, to design and manufacture the products which took to the runway of the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. This novel project signifies the Airlines’ commitment to environment whilst setting an example of the importance of preserving resources and re-using materials.

Sri Lankan beaches were once considered as some of the pristine and attractive beaches in the world. Without a doubt it also contributes to the national economy immensely but due to poor management and irresponsible practices these natural wonders have become polluted and unattractive. As part of the airline’s ‘planet friendly SriLankan’ ideology and as a leading contributor to Sri Lanka tourism, SriLankan Airlines always takes timely actions with regards to preserving its environment.

SriLankan Airlines launched a project in partnership with Coca-Cola Beverages Sri Lanka Ltd to recycle used PET plastic bottles. It is their latest endeavour to promote sustainable living and raise public awareness of the need for environmental conservation through the concept of ‘reduce-reuse-recycle’.

SriLankan Airlines officially handed over the funds received from its staff engagement project ‘A plant for Wilpattu’ to Sri Lanka Army, on 20th February 2021, marking the completion of its first phase. The funds were officially accepted by Brigadier Suresh Perera, Commander of 542 infantry brigade - Sri Lanka Army, on behalf of the ‘Thuruliya Wenuwen Api’ project at an event organized by the 54 division of SL Army at ‘Sinathnagar’ replanting site, Mannar.

Sri Lanka is at present going through dramatic weather and severe environmental challenges. It is also not a secret that this is due to most of us neglecting our environmental responsibilities. Therefore, ‘CLICKback 2019’ - a photographic competition was organised by the SriLankan Airlines’ Environment Unit in order to raise awareness of the staff members regarding the adverse effects of environment pollution and destruction which also coincides with this year’s project for ‘Earth Hour’, the global initiative.

Expanding to 60 acres, the Sri Lanka’s first ever Thalawathugoda Wetland Park is located within a highly urbanized area in the close proximity of the Parliament Complex in Sri Jawardenepura Kotte, Sri Lanka (within Greater Colombo). As the first educational field visit for the year, SriLankan Environment unit took the members of SriLankan School Green Club to this spectacular wetland on the 26th February, in order to raise the awareness of this important eco-system.

As an organization who believes in promoting sustainable work practices, SriLankan Airlines is continuously seeking ways to improve its environmental performance and live up to its promise of being a ‘Planet Friendly Airline’. The ISO 14001:2015 standards is an Environmental Management System (EMS) which specifies the requirements for an organization to enhance its environmental performance.

Each Division of the Airline was adorned with creative Christmas décor designed with eco-friendly material as SriLankan employees went green to celebrate the spirit of Christmas for the second time. Whilst creative talents of the employees need to be appreciated, the initiative also showcased the commitment which they have made towards making an effort to stay true to adopting a sustainable work ethic.

A Beach for a country is a treasure that should be protected and safe guard, not only as it brings foreign revenue to the country through tourism but also it helps countries to keep its natural eco systems flourished. However coastal ecosystems worldwide have been, and still are, heavily influenced by humans through pollution and habitat loss. Over 80% of all marine pollution originates from land-based sources which are primarily industrial, agricultural and urban.

SriLankan Environment Unit once again completed a successful awareness session on ‘Waste management and best practices’ at the Andiambalama Maha Vidyalaya. This was conducted due to a request made by the SriLankan School Green Club members attached to the same school at the last World Environment Day event.

SriLankan Environment Unit celebrated the World Environment Day 2018 with a company-wide competition titled ‘Green Challenge 2018’ which invited the conservation minded SriLankan employees to propose innovative projects which could be adopted to reduce polythene and plastic usage within the Airline.

SriLankan Airlines as a responsible airline launched ‘flygreen’ programme, its own carbon offset programme back in 2015. This programme set to offset 3000 tonnes of carbon in its first phase, which is a delight to note that the programme achieved by the first quarter of 2018.

As you may know, adverse effects due the climate change continue to wreak havoc across the globe whilst the staggering loss of biodiversity threatens to dull the world of its natural beauty. In such context, the Earth Hour 2018-2020 endeavours to spark conversations on the loss of nature and the urgent need to protect it.

Solid Waste management has become one of the major environmental hazard and an issue that Sri Lanka face at present. Dumping garbage on road sides and sensitive areas such as wetlands, marshy lands, reservation etc. is a common practice adopted by the public in all areas.

‘Green Christmas’ is a new concept introduced to reduce wastage that typically occurs during Christmas season. People are encouraged to upcycle, recycle and reuse their decorations while bring out the imagination and creativity in them. Keeping its commitment to the protection of environment ‘SriLankan Green Unit’ introduce this novel concept to its employees and this was well absorbed by the staff.

Maintaining its commitment to the Global Sustainability Strategy, fastened to the triple bottom-line creating value for people, planet alongside profitability, corporate entities are expected to place great emphasis on the Preservation of biodiversity.

SriLankan Airlines’ Environmental volunteers lent their helping hand to another national cause; the island wide coastal clean-up campaign organized by the Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) of Sri Lanka on the 21st Sep 2017 at the Negombo beach. The National Coastal Clean-up program is an annual event organized by MEPA on third Saturday of September each year with the collaboration of Ocean Conservancy.

Oddusuddan is an area in the Mullaitivu District, Sri Lanka which is part of the dry zone where it faced 30 years of torturous civil war and many human interventions which triggered the shrinkage and fragmentation of natural forest cover. Lack of rain fall and the above factors have made the life of living beings in this area a very much harsh and difficult one.

World Environment Day is the biggest annual event takes place in the world for positive environmental actions. 2017 theme of the Environmental day was ‘Connecting People to Nature’. This means, get people outdoors to appreciate nature, its beauty, its importance and most importantly its protection.

 ‘Going beyond the Hour’, SriLankan Airlines celebrated the earth hour 2017 with the diners at Signature Restaurant ‘Semondu’ in Colombo, on Saturday the 25th March 2017. This provided a unique opportunity for the diners to actively participate in this international event aimed at raising awareness on energy and environmental conservation.

SriLankan School Green Club had their first field visit to Nithya Paper and Boards Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, Horana on 20th December 2016 as part of their environmental educational process. The objective of this visit is to exposes the students of Andiambalama Maha Vidyalaya to gain much needed hands-on experience in paper recycling related processes in order for them to develop their own paper recycling programme at school.

SriLankan Environment Unit together with SriLankan Cares held the first educational programme for its School Green Club members, who are the students of Andiambalama Maha Vidyalaya on the 19th October at the SriLankan Aviation College.

Next generation has a key role to play in preserving the fading charm of Earth’s Greenery, hence the right culture should be created during school days to ensure that they grow up to be individuals who work towards preserving the core essence of Mother Nature.

SriLankan Airlines celebrated its 2016 World Environment day with launching number of significant initiatives aimed to enhance a wide range of efforts at environmental conservation with the theme of ‘Going Wild for Life’.

SriLankan Airlines on Thursday 2nd June 2016 joined a landmark worldwide drive to crack down on the illegal global trade in wildlife trafficking that has brought many of the world’s rare species close to extinction.

SriLankan Airlines, which has gained a worldwide reputation as a pioneer of conservation in the global air transport industry, spread the message of environmental protection among its passengers at Bandaranaike International Airport during Earth Hour 19th March 2016, with a uniquely innovative effort.

As a directive by the Ministry of Transport and Aviation, marking the first anniversary of assuming office of His Excellency the President, Mr. Maithripala Sirisena, SriLankan Human resource division, Environment team and SriLankan Cares jointly organized a tree planting campaign and a stationery donation programme for a primary school in Andiambalama on the 08th January 2016.

SriLankan Airlines as a conservation minded airline constantly in the lookout for opportunity to partake on conservation efforts. In 2015, SriLankan was invited by the INSEE Cement (former Holcim Lanka Pvt LTD) to be part of a national level endeavor.

Being the environment conscious and responsible members of SriLankan family, creative minds of the Electrical Team of Properties and Facilities Division invested their talents and expertise to invent a solar powered motor bike for SriLankan Airlines. An upcoming renewable energy source, solar energy is used to charge a recycled battery which intern utilized to power a motor bike.

SriLankan Airlines voluntary carbon offset programme ‘flygreen’ is renowned for its standards and transparency globally. Also being ranked as one of the 100 best aviation climate solutions cases in the world this programme has won the hearts of the Airlines’ many conservation minded online passengers.

Continuing with their efforts of creating a greener airline, SriLankan Environment Unit launched a “Cleaning Day” with the support of the entire SriLankan workforce. The ‘Cleaning Day’ unraveled around the theme of ‘Cleaner surrounding, greener airline’ and invited the entire workforce to join with SriLankan Environment Unit in their endeavor to create a planet friendly Airline.

SriLankan Airlines has been listed in "Cecil Honor Roll" by world’s leading aviation magazine, Air Transport World (ATW) for banning carriage of wild game/hunter trophies on-board its flights from August 18, 2015 onwards.

The fundamentals of SriLankan’s Green Agenda are drawn on the notion of inspiring nature lovers and leaving a trail of green which other could follows and embrace. As the World Environment Day 2015 drawn on 5th June 2015, SriLankan Airlines initiated a series of projects which aimed at driving communities, nature lovers and passengers alike towards the common goal of preserving the nature.

Taking forward its green legacy, SriLankan Airlines introduces a voluntary carbon offset programme that will inspire every passenger to make a greener choice when crossing oceans. As the national carrier of Sri Lanka, SriLankan feels extremely proud to support a broad range of environmental initiatives and to demonstrate action when it comes to the environment and climate protection.

Department of Wildlife Conservation Sri Lanka invited SriLankan Airlines to join with them on their expedition to capture Sri Lanka’s TOP SEVEN wild animals in photography. The expedition was consists with a team from Department of Wildlife, SriLankan Airlines and Philatelic Bureau of Sri Lanka and they covered the Kumana National Park with extensions to Yala strict reserve.

SriLankan Airlines’ signature eco-tourism project, project BLUEprint, commenced its second phase with a one day awareness programme conducted for the boat operators who are into whales watching industry around Kalpitiya area.

SriLankan Airlines being the first Airline in south Asia to launch a carbon minimize flight back in 2009, it proved yet again to be proactive when implementing another innovative initiative. Complimenting to the Company’s corporate environment policy, SriLankan Cargo signed an e-AWB (Air waybill) agreement with six of its top customers.

“Wanajeevi” the annual journal of Department of Wildlife Conservation of Sri Lanka has become an educational journal that receives a wide range of global attention. This magazine is published with the intention of educating the global readers regarding the natural beauty of Sri Lanka with the information on endemic species, plants and forest reserves of Sri Lanka.

As the World Ocean Day unraveled, SriLankan Green Team joined with Jetwing Hotels to conduct a special beach cleaning session at Negombo beach. The volunteers from SriLankan workforce were enthusiastic in taking part in the event, despite the day being a Sunday and having to commence the project as early as 7 o’clock in the morning.

Marking a crucial juncture in SriLankan Environment unit’s mission to create a greener world, the team released the Environmental Policies of SriLankan Airlines at a special function that was held on World Environment Day 2014. The event unravelled with the participation of distinguished guests of SriLankan Green Team and officials from Biodiversity Sri Lanka.

Grave predictions have already been made by environmental activists that mankind may take arms and resort to violence for the sake of ‘water’ in the not so distant future. Though preposterous as it may sound, such a prediction may yet materialize, if the world fails to invest extra effort and start working tirelessly towards water preservation.

Being one of the most conservation minded airline in the region, SriLankan Airlines invested on a wastewater treatment plant for its Largest Aircraft hangar. This new investment made not only to comply with the legal compliance but also to achieve an environment objective. By commissioning such a project the airline managed to discharge clean water to nature and reduce its own environmental impact.

SriLankan green team representatives visited British Airways environment team on the 21st February 2014 at their head office, Waterside Heathrow UK. The visit was intended to grasp and comprehend the BA strategy on Environment, energy conservation and share the experience on compliances to new ETS framework.

Along with safety and security, global environmental responsibility has become a top priority for global airlines. Being an environment friendly airline, SriLankan is also aiming to reduce its environmental impact by implementing new strategies, policies and programmes. The final month of the year 2013 was of much significance for the UL Environment Team with the initiatives taken to implement IATA carbon offset mechanism and IATA Environment management system (IEnvA) in the airline.

SriLankan Airlines has launched the Project BLUEprint in partnership with Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC), UK. The Airline and wildlife charity is working together to jointly develop a community-based responsible whale and dolphin watching industry off the coast of Sri Lanka and encourage responsible behavior amongst local boat tour operators.

Raising internal awareness on environmental sensitive issues and also on the conservation efforts are one of task that Environment team embark on in their schedule. Being one of the active members of the Environment Team, the electrical team of Properties and Facilities division conduct awareness programmes for all staff by going office to office emphasizing the impact of energy conservation and as individuals how they could be involved in energy saving.

SriLankan Properties division being one of the pillers in the Airlines’ Environmental strategy came up with a brilliant project, which is regenerating Sealed Batteries. This programme intends to regenerate a total of 1000 sealed batteries by 2015, and by 2013, the electrical Facilities section of Properties division has managed to regenerate close to 500nos of batteries.

As a conservation minded corporate, SriLankan Airlines constantly trying to innovate their environmental portfolio. As a result and to provide a solution to the current issue of not having a proper disposal procedure for the waste generated at the canteen, SriLankan introduced a proper environmentally-friendly solution by installing an in-house biogas plant.

SriLankan introduced a revolutionary SOLAtube day lighting harnessing system to Engineering division

SriLankan Airlines celebrate World Environment Day 2013 with the world by initiating a sequence of events and launching few new projects.

SriLankan Airlines organized two special awareness programmes as part of its 2013 World environment day event sequence, for the students from Both Minuwangoda Nalanda Boys and Girls schools

The staff of SriLankan Airlines joined in to help create a greener Sri Lanka by participating in the Dayata Sevana&, a national tree planting campaign initiated by the Government of Sri Lanka.

SriLankan Airlines Celebrate the World Environment day 2012 with a sequence of event including a tree planting, an art competition and an environmental awareness campaign at Katunayake.

The European Emissions Trading Scheme is a measure taken by the European Union to incentivize the reduction of CO2 emissions by allowing a certain amount to be produced per year and obliging to cover any extra CO2 emissions

In 2008, CFL bulbs were introduced to the offices at the SriLankan Airline. The project started at the SriLankan Aviation College followed by Flight Operations new building and Admin Building. The annual saving achieved by introducing CFL bulbs was 6.2 Mn LKR.

SriLankan Airlines and its newly established environment team was invited by the LSR & PADI divers association to take part in a national event recently. This is to par take in a much needed beach cleaning campaign at war-torn Passekudah beach in trincomalee.

SriLankan Airlines’ first ‘Green’ flight, UL 557 made its way to Frankfurt on the 21st March, 2009, heralding a new chapter in the Aviation history of Sri Lanka while becoming the first South Asian carrier to show such full and unconditional commitment