CHICAGO: Fly Srilankan Airlines to any South Indian destination and taste the age old tradition of warm hospitality of 'Paradise Island' on board. The Srilankan Airlines, Central Asia's Airline of the Year for four years now, has more attractions for Indian travelers from US major cities.

This was revealed in an Agents Presentation held recently in at Holiday Inn in Skokie, a Chicago suburb.Dillan Ariyawansa, Srilankan Airlines Vice President, Sales & Marketing-USA and Ajith De Alwis, Sales Manager had organized a Srilankan's Midwest Consolidators and Travel Agents meet for the presentation. Ajith inaugurated the event and spoke about Srilankan comforts and facilities offered on board for travelers.

Srilankan operates daily flight from European gateways - London, Frankfurt and Paris to Colombo transferring passengers to South Indian destinations - Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Trichy, Calicut, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram. To West India, Srilankan operates flights to Mumbai and Goa, and in North it operates to New Delhi.All Indian destinations are non-stop from Colombo with very convenient connections from European gateways.

Together with interline partners United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Northwest and British Airways; Srilankan Airlines carry passengers to India from all major US cities. The Srilankan schedule to and from Colombo to South India has room for travelers to make a transit break and enjoy airlines hospitality in Paradise Island. If a connecting flight has a layover for more than eight hours at Colombo, Srilankan offers free hotel at airport.

Most nationals from across world need no transit visa for entry into Srilanka. For Hyderabad passengers, Srilankan flights are well connected with United Airlines from Chicago, Detroit, Washington, New York and other UA gateways. Srilankan fares have special side trip add-ons for Bombay passengers to travel to Karachi or South Indian travelers to make a break for Singapore or Bangkok.

Through a video presentation, Ajith showed glimpses of Srilankan hospitality on board. With a phone and television screen on every seat, travelers feast on selection of delicacies from Europe's finest to Asia's spiciest dishes.

The entertainment channels offer latest movies from box office, video games and video on demand for business travelers. There are childcare specialists on board, special entertainment for junior passengers, tele-medical services for emergencies and Skywards/baggage bonus programs for frequent flyers. The video presentation also showed Sri Lanka's legendary blue water beaches, the lush green landscape and water falls.

The presentation made a lingering impact on agents that at a time when most airlines are cutting short on attractions due to competitive fares, Srilankan is a better choice for South Indian travelers. Ajith also provided vital sales information to travel agents. Dillan Ariyawansa thanked the Chicago Agents for joining the seminar.

He was also seen discussing with agents on different issues.Srilankan Midwest Consolidators' Skybird Travel, Krisbi Travel, Evia Travel, Hari World Travel, Picasso Travel, RK Travel, Tradewings Travel, Tradewind Associates owners and staff were present for the event together with other travel agency staff members.