Upul Dharmadasa

Background

About Upul Dharmadasa

Mr. Upul Ganganath Dharmadasa CTC assumed duties as the Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority with effect from 14th January 2020. Mr. Upul Dharmadasa was born in 1952 and followed his School Education in Rahula, Silvester and ST.Thomas Colleges in Matara. In 1972, he graduated from Ceylon Hotel School and worked at the hotel Ceylon Oberoi. Then, he joined Air Ceylon and underwent UTA training and had worked there from 1974 -1979. In 1979, he sailed “Lanka Kalyani” cadet training ship as Purser and was sailed until 1980. Furthermore, in 1980 Mr. Upul Dharmadasa migrated to Los Angeles, state of California in the United States and completed a degree in Food and Nutrition. Additionally, from 1982 to 1987 he had worked in Best hospitals in California State as a hospital dietitian. In 1984, he started a part time Travel business by launching Upul Travels Service in the USA. In 1989, obtained the highest ranking certificate in the Travel Industry from “Institute of Certificate travel Agent of Massachusetts “. As a consultant in the Travel Industry, a specialized standard titled CTC (Certified Travel Consultant) was awarded to him. He managed and secured SriLankan Airlines GSA in the USA in He has acquired continuous expertise training on Ticketing and Tourism related areas. Additionally, he established a company by the name “Upper class Travel Inc” in The USA servicing over travel professionals, offering discounted first /business class travel. He created an upper class limousine service in Los Angeles offering Luxury vehicle service in the entire state of California and Nevada in 2006. Also, He was appointed as a President of the Sri Lankan Limousine Consortium in Los Angeles in 2009. He created UEI Inc Financial institution in Los Angeles, California in 2011 & developed International travel booking Engine known as Utravel.com in 2014. He was the winner of the Exceptional Achievement Award – 2006 conferred by the Sri Lanka Foundation institute and also the winner of the Sri America Award conferred by Sri Lanka/America Cultural Organization, USA in 2017. During the period from 1984 to 2020, Mr. Upul Ganganath Dharmadasa was instrumental in bringing the highest revenue to Sri Lankan Airlines from North America, which was over US$ 200 million. Currently, reading for a MBA from Teesside University, Middlesbrough, Tees Valley, United Kingdom.