The state-owned airline will have to justify its plans of leasing 20+ aircraft amid country financial crisis.
Senior management of the SriLankan Airlines is expected to appear before a special parliament committee on April 25th to discuss the airline's performance. Senior managers of the country's flag carrier are expected to talk and explain, among other matters, their plan to lease new aircraft for fleet renewal and expansion.
Early last week, SriLankan Airlines came under fire for news reports about the airline plan to lease more than 20 aircraft. read more
While the airline has put forward its arguments about how bringing in new planes would help its business, it comes at a time when Sri Lanka is going through a never-before-seen economic crisis.
Due to the difficult financial situation of the country, the Sri Lanka Parliament established the Committee On Public Enterprises (COPE) to hold discussions with national carrier's top management on Monday about the performence of the airline.
The special committee is chaired by Prof. Charitha Herath, is expected to question the airline about the bidding process of the lease of 21 aircraft and possibly the viability of such move at the current country financial status.
The airline currently has 24 airplanes – an all-Airbus mix of narrowbodies and widebodies. It has made a number of requests for proposal (RFPs) to lease up to 21 planes, some of which would cover the existing fleet type (A320 and A330 family of aircraft). The A350 has also been proposed for long-haul operations, and the A220 and Embraer 195 are being considered for regional services.
Around 60% of the deliveries would replace existing aircraft, and the remaining 40% would be used to grow the fleet to 35 aircraft by 2025, supporting the airline’s long-term expansion plans.
Daily flights have already been introduced to Kuala Lumpur, while daily flights will be operated to Melbourne by May and Bangkok and Jakarta by July of this year. The airline is also planning to match the weekly number of flights to Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Muscat, and Seychelles in the Middle Eastern and African regions to its pre-pandemic level of operations.