Who is Suren?
Suren Ratwatte, FRAeS, is an accomplished pilot, airline executive and aviation researcher.
He became one of the world’s first Airbus A380 Captains, was previously SriLankan Airlines’ CEO and has also been featured in several books and academic publications.
Category: Columns
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COVID’s effect on the airlines
Happy New Year to all my readers. As 2022 dawns we look back on what has been possibly the worst two years the world’s airline industry has suffered in its relatively short existence. As readers are aware, the airline industry only began in the 1920s, as in the aftermath of the First World war saw…
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Dubai Airshow 2021
Airshows and holidays The last Airshow in the usual cycle was held in Singapore in early February 2020. The first news of a dangerous new virus was already out, and the even was rather muted. What followed, as we know, was a prolonged nightmare as COVID-19 brought a halt to decades of unparalleled growth in…
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Air India back with Tata
The last eighteen months has been a disaster for the airline industry. COVID-19 devastated the business early in 2020 and the recurring variants meant that travel patterns never stabilized, especially international travel. India and the ISC region escaped the worst in 2020 only to be crippled by the Delta variant this year. Finally, after months…
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Combat in the T-55 MBT
This is the last of a series of articles concerning the T-55 main battle tank in use by the Sri Lanka Army. The columns take place as a conversation between the author and a retired officer of the Armoured Corps who prefers to remain unidentified. The narrator’s recollections are part of an oral history project…
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T-55 in the Tropics
____________________________________ This series of articles about combat in the T-55 main battle tank with the Sri Lanka Army, takes place as a conversation between the author and a retired officer of the Armored Corps who prefers to remain unidentified. The narrator’s recollections are part of an oral history project aimed at preserving the memories of…
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Will Jabs be the key?
A tale of two states Over six months ago, as the COVID-19 pandemic’s first year drew to a close, this column foresaw a ‘two speed’ recovery of domestic and international air travel (see December 15, 2020 column here). Back in December 2020, with vaccines due to arrive in a few months there was a good…
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Displaced Optimism
Displaced Optimism The first of these columns to report on COVID-19 was published in February 2020. Sixteen months later the nightmare isn’t showing any signs of ending soon. In February of last year China was a country in a harsh lockdown, one that most of the world were quick to criticize as too extreme. Today,…
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Closed Borders and Lucky Generals
The ‘Lucky Country’ and its General Scott Morrison, Australia’s Prime Minister since 2018 is a devout Christian. He certainly seems to have the heavens on his side. Backroom manoeuvres saw him rise to the leadership of the Australian Liberal Party (which is actually quite right-wing) and inherit the federal Premiership. He won a general election…
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The dreaded ‘second wave’ hits India
The iniquities of vaccination and the impact on air travel India is ablaze. Not with forest fires, but funeral pyres as the COVID-19 pandemic is undergoing a vicious second-wave in the region. With over 1.8 million confirmed cases and more than 200,000 deaths India is now surging towards breaking all records in this pandemic.…
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Crisis or Opportunity?
Is this a good time to start a new airline? There is a common misconception that the Chinese character for ‘crisis’ is a combination of ‘danger’ and ‘opportunity’. While this is not strictly true, the concept is valid. COVID-19 has decimated the airline industry. Only the largess of governments worldwide has kept airlines alive. Now,…
