A leading airline is celebrating over three decades in partnership with a Sri Lankan tea company.

Emirates, based in Dubai, has enjoyed a successful partnership with Dilmah Tea for over 30 years.

Sri Lanka, which produces around 300 million kilograms of tea annually and is predominantly an orthodox tea producer, is currently trying to rebuild its tourist sector after recent political turbulence.

Tea remains vital to its economy and the country is the largest supplier of orthodox teas, exporting more than 95% of its production. Tea accounts for an estimated 65 per cent of its overall global exports.

Last Friday \(16 June), food and drink specialists gathered in Brussels for a special event which showcased the best of Dilmah Tea (served to Emirates’ first class passengers).

The first tea plant arrived in Sri Lanka in 1824 from China, as an ornamental plant for a botanical garden. In the years that followed, more tea plants were brought from Assam, Calcutta and Kenya. The production of tea grew quickly due to how well the plants fared in the highland weather.

Ceylon tea, as it has been known since the 19th century, has been the base tea of choice for most tea manufacturers around the world. Sri Lankans believe that their ground water has a magical quality, not only for growing great tea plants but also for brewing it

Black tea is the most common kind of tea. Ceylon black tea is considered the cleanest tea in the world, free of harmful pesticides or additives.

Amsterdam-based Arianne Heij, of Dilmah Tea, explains that Sri Lankans drink black tea very strong with milk and sugar. Sharing a pot in the afternoon is a common way to wind down from a busy day while the tea of choice in most households is the strong black tea, commonly called “Ceylon Tea”.

She outlined the health benefits associated with drinking tea and how the country’s tea heritage still attracted many tourists to Sri Lanka.

“The founder of Dilmah Tea himself has turned just 93 years of age and attributes regular tea drinking to his good health,” she told reporters.

The country itself has only recently emerged from a period of political instability and is again welcoming” foreign tourists, says Dulmini Dahanayake, Second Secretary at the Sri Lankan embassy at Uccle in Brussels.

The International Monetary Fund is lending Sri Lanka $3bn to help it deal with its worst economic crisis in its history as an independent nation. In early 2022, Sri Lankans started experiencing power cuts and shortages of basics such as fuel. The rate of inflation rose to 50% a year.

As a result, protests broke out in the capital Colombo in April that year and spread across the country.

But the diplomat said, “We are over the worst now and the political instability we experienced is behind us. We are ready to once again welcome tourists to the country. Everything is in order now and the aim is to put us back on the tourist map.”

The company has been in partnership with Emirates since 1992. Sri Lanka has been part of Emirates network since April 1986 and carries more than 11 million passengers on the route.

There are 14 weekly flights between Brussels and Colombo and Emirates is the only international carrier with a first class product on the route.

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