The Chairman of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) of the Parliament, Member of Parliament Prof. Ranjith Bandara, said that SriLankan Airlines President Ashok Pathirage stated very clearly that how the airline will be managed as a commercial business until a future decision is made on whether to privatize it or to enter into a public-private partnership.
This was in the context of the explanations given by the high-level management of the company, including Mr. Ashok Pathirage, the company’s chairman, and Mr. Richard Nuttall, the chief executive officer, when they were called before the COPE Committee to explain how the company would be run as a commercial business before a decision is made on the future of SriLankan Airlines.
According to COPE Chairman Prof. Ranjith Bandara, the management of SriLankan Airlines has been clearly outlined by its Chairman until a future decision is made.
“While no major predictions can be made, the airline is being managed on a yearly basis and there is potential for profit in the upcoming year.SriLankan Airlines has generated an operating profit in the past two years, signaling growth for the company. However, despite this positive trend, there has been an increase in reserve loss, which poses a challenge to SriLankan’s progress. In fact, the total loss of SriLankan Airlines amounts to approximately Rs. 32,000 per person, when divided by the country’s total population. This is a significant setback for the company.” Prof. Ranjith Bandara said.
CEO Mr. Richard Nuttall said that during the Covid pandemic, there was a delay in the repayment of the money that had to be paid for the engines. Therefore, they had to pay a high interest of 18% for that. It took a considerable amount of time to reconcile. Although they came to an agreement and signed the contract, they were not able to get the engines easily from Rolls-Royce. Several A-330 type planes that needed engines can be flown again within the next 2 weeks.
Responding to a question on privatization, Chairman of SriLankan Airlines, Mr. Ashok Pathirage said that they did not know such facts regarding the plan for full privatization. But the government is currently in a strong position regarding the privatization of SriLankan Airlines. They feel that if they find the right partner, it is a good support for long-term sustainability. As long as the airline is owned by the government, it has had to face many political and other changes.
Responding to a question on recent two flight delays where one flight faced a 30-hour delay, Also, another flight that flew to Dubai had to fly back to Katunayake due to a technical fault, Chairman of SriLankan, Mr. Ashok Pathirage said “This is a normal occurrence for any airline. I understand that such incidents should not happen. It takes about 20 hours for us to send another plane. I think we did the best we could. And as you know we only have a limited number of aircraft.”
Responding to a question on Aircraft shortage Mr. Ashok Pathirage said “We will get 10 aircraft within the next 4-5 months. We do the deficient supply. Countries like China are now opening their borders. Tourists should come to this country. That is the responsibility of the national airline. We have not received any provision from the government treasury in the last two or three years. We ran our services from the revenue we generated. And we have not taken help from any state bank. Because they were not in such stability. We think this can be brought to a profitable level as long as there is peace in the country, no agitations, etc. We look forward to that”
Responding to another question on starting flights to Switzerland, Sri Lankan Chairman said ” You may be aware that we have expanded our operations in the past 3 years. Because a decision was taken 5 to 7 years ago and several destinations were closed. We have expanded to a number of destinations. We have increased operations in several destinations like Moscow, Frankfurt, Paris etc. But the problem is, you know our current situation. We are restricted. Consider China, as our CEO explained. Now places like China are reopening for travel. We have a responsibility as the national airline to support the national economy. So tourists should also come. It is a certain responsibility as the national airline. Especially as the national airline. But a private airline will not do that. Because a private airline only looks at the profit of the respective airline. If we are right, 99% of the time, we should also try that. Because we also should survive.
And I must remind you that in the last two or three years, we have not received any money from the treasury. We accomplished everything by ourselves. With the money we earn and everyone’s support. We did not depend on the Treasury. We did not take at least one dollar. We did not even take help from any government bank. Because they are not in a position to help us. So we didn’t even ask. We know what the reality is. We all know that this should be done as a commercial venture. There must be commercial viability here.
We have to shorten some destinations. We fly to Paris during the season. But in the off season we have to reduce the number of flights. Then we have to combine Paris and Frankfurt. It is in this situation that we have to act. We also like to support passengers with direct flights to Switzerland. But we may not be able to reach that decision very soon,” he said.