In a move to celebrate 100 years of international civil aviation since the Wright brother invented the first aircraft in 1903, SriLankan Airlines organised an islandwide competition in order to pick 54 children to fly over to the Maldives for a day tour.

The event was kicked off when a communiqué was sent to over 10,000 schools around the country with a questionnaire. After a draw, six children from each of the nine provinces of the island were selected to participate in the day tour.

The 54 children included 23 boys and 31 girls aged between 16 to 19 years. The quiz titled 'Pathum Piyapath' was conducted in the Lake House Group of Newspapers in Sinhala, Tamil and English.

The teenagers’ outing began the day before departure when they were hosted to a tea party on the topmost floor of the World Trade Centre. SriLankan Airlines invited national celebrities from the sporting, film and music worlds as special invitees to meet and entertain these young guests. The group was then taken to a beach hotel in Negombo for the night so that catching the Male flight the next day early morning would be easier.

In the Maldives , the group had a busy schedule that included a meeting with the Maldivian President, His Excellency Abdul Gayoom, and a tour of Male before the group went over to the Ranalhi island resort for lunch. The group was entertained with fun and games in the evening and a presentation on aviation was also conducted prior to the Colombo-bound flight the same day.

Speaking at this event, Chandana de Silva, Head of Corporate Communications stated that SriLankan Airlines was delighted to organize an event particularly of this nature. “A century of civil aviation is indeed a milestone in contemporary history. We’re happy we have been able to transform these teenagers’ dream into reality by taking them on this memorable trip to Male.”

“Given their age, this would be an ideal opportunity to spark their imagination and open further horizons as they embark on their young adult life,” he added. While the guests were in Male for the day, SriLankan Airlines also made arrangements to take their parents / guardians on a familiarization tour of the Bandaranaike International Airport at Katunayake.

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