April 2011, Colombo: Who in Sri Lanka isn’t eager for the festivities to start? Bharti Airtel Lanka today joined the celebrations of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year by announcing the introduction of complimentary public transportation services during the forthcoming festive season. As part of this, 35 Airtel sponsored buses will run between 10 major highways of Sri Lanka on April 11 and 12, 2011, thereby easing traffic congestion and hassle for nearly 10,000 commuters during this peak season. To leverage this unique initiative by Airtel exclusively in Sri Lanka, commuters can simply dial the exclusive Airtel hotline on 075 6 600600 from any mobile or fixed line to reserve a seat on the bus and enjoy a comfortable ride back home.

Commenting on the service, Hon. Kumara Welgama, Minister of Transport, said “We truly appreciate this unique and meaningful initiative by Airtel towards benefiting commuters in Sri Lanka during the Sinhala & Tamil New Year festive season.  Supplementing our existing public transportation network with complimentary bus services across all main routes is a welcome initiative – one that certainly makes travelling simpler for thousands of commuters from Colombo during this congested timeframe. We hereby congratulate Airtel for championing socially beneficial projects of this nature that is capable of benefitting all segments of society.”

Amali Nanayakkara, CEO & MD, Bharti Airtel Lanka said “At Airtel, we take pride in our ability to provide meaningful services at the most relevant opportunity. Strengthened by the foundation of a world class network that is now panned out across the country, we extend our promise to touch the lives of all Sri Lankans by getting them closer to those they love in every way possible. Powering the New Year festivities with complimentary transportation facilities is yet another way by which we remain refreshingly relevant and true to the essence of Airtel, for our customers and all Sri Lankans.”