SriLankan Airlines became one of the first airlines in the world to completely satisfy a key environmental requirement of the European Union (EU) with regard to monitoring of aircraft emissions, as part of a general initiative to better protect the environment.

SriLankan carried out comprehensive collection of emissions data from its entire fleet of aircraft throughout 2010, and the EU on 27th April 2011 approved the benchmarking of this data.

This signifies acceptance of SriLankan Airlines' Aircraft Emissions Monitoring System, approving the high standard of the state-of-the-art system that was developed by the airline itself.

SriLankan's Head of Flight Operations, Captain Navin De Silva, said "SriLankan is proud to continue its pioneering role in environmental conservation. Only a handful of airlines have so far satisfied the EU's tough new requirement. We have already gained a reputation as an airline that is focused on protecting the environment, notably through our 'Planet Friendly Flights' programme."

Following an audit by SGS of the UK, the Environment Agency of the UK (the agency authorized by the EU) recommended the data collected by SriLankan's system throughout the year 2010 as being 100% compliant with EU regulations in terms of accuracy.

"What is most significant is that our Emissions Monitoring System was developed completely in-house, in sharp contrast to most other airlines which are purchasing very expensive systems from IT software vendors," said Kamal Nanayakkara, SriLankan's Head of IT.

SriLankan's Emissions Monitoring System has already come to the limelight when it won a Merit Award at the National Best Quality Software Awards 2010 (NBQSA), for innovations in Information Technology.

The system itself was designed by SriLankan's Information Technology Division and the Aviation Fuel Department of Flight Operations, saving a considerable cost versus obtaining a similar system from an external vendor. It monitors emissions throughout a flight, and uploads the data directly from every aircraft.