Traditional Sri Lankan festive delicacies to be served at Emirates Lounge on April 13 -14
Emirates is joining the Sinhala and Tamil New Year celebrations in Sri Lanka by serving traditional sweetmeats at the airline’s lounge at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA). The special festive menu promises to treat passengers to the delectable taste of local culture and showcase the airline’s affinity with the communities it serves.
On the 13th and 14th of April when local communities celebrate ‘Avurudu’ – the ending of an old year and the dawning of a new one – and pay tribute to the sun for its role in a bountiful harvest, the Emirates lounge at BIA will be serving classic delicacies that are a popular feature of the Sri Lankan festive table.
The celebrations just got sweeter with a spread of special menu items including milk rice or ‘kiribath,’ a rice pudding simmered in fragrant coconut milk and served alongside customary spicy accompaniments as well as ‘kokis’, a crisp-fried rice flour cookie made with traditional butterfly-shaped moulds. Those with a sweet tooth can also savour rice flour based specialities including ‘mung kevum’ with green gram sweetened with kithul treacle, ‘aluwa’, made with coconut milk and treacle syrup with a sprinkle of ground cardamom and cashew, and ‘welithalapa,’ featuring rice flour, coconut and treacle.
These mouth-watering delicacies will be available for Emirates’ First and Business Class passengers to enjoy a unique opportunity to experience some of the classic confectionaries and dishes associated with the Sinhala-Tamil New Year, a celebration steeped in age-old customs and traditions. Select Skywards members are also eligible for lounge access.
The premium 5,651 square-foot Emirates dedicated lounge at the BIA can accommodate up to 118 passengers, providing a comfortable and relaxing setting for travellers to enjoy before their trip. Featuring comfortable leather armchairs, a spacious dining area, Business Centre to catch up on work before flights, the Emirates Lounge also has a dedicated prayer room, shower facilities, and washrooms for the convenience of passengers.
Emirates has a vast network of 39 dedicated airport lounges, including seven in Dubai and 32 located within major airports around the globe, all designed with the same attention to detail and exceptional service. Besides Dubai, Emirates operates dedicated lounges in Auckland, Bangkok, Birmingham, Boston, Cairo, Cape Town, Colombo, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Glasgow, Hamburg, London Gatwick, London Heathrow, Los Angeles, Manchester, Melbourne, Milan, Munich, New York, Paris, Perth, Rome, San Francisco, Singapore, and Sydney.
Emirates commenced operations to Sri Lanka in April 1986 and currently operates 21 flights a week to and from Colombo, with a daily schedule of two direct flights to Dubai and one operating via the Maldivian capital, Male.