Opposition MP Harsha de Silva today slammed the Government for attempting to lease more aircrafts for SriLankan Airlines.
“This must be a joke?! But it is in what seems official @flysrilankan website. Airline sources say going to lease 40 aircraft?! #SriLanka is bankrupt; no fuel, gas or medicine. Where the hell is money for this nonsense?! Better immediately clarify” MP Harsha de Silva tweeted.
Government MP COPE committee chairman Dr. Charitha Herath also agreed with MP Harsha de Silva posting a tweet.
“True. It is an utter joke to publish such a notice by a State Owned Enterprise which is already making huge losses @flysrilankan. @ParliamentLK through #COPE (https://t.co/R1mKRSyZGl) also revealed certain key irregularities of #srilankan as well” MP Dr. Charitha Herath tweeted.
Issuing a clarification earlier, Sri Lankan Airlines said that it has issued four requests for proposal (RFPs) to lease up to 21 aircraft to support its long-term business strategy.
“This includes two RFPs covering existing fleet types (320 and 330 family aircraft) and two parallel RFPs to compare with alternative aircraft types. Roughly 60 per cent of the planned aircraft will be for fleet replacement, and the remainder will be to support the airline’s expansion strategy and meet the growing demand for air travel between Sri Lanka and the world.
Prior to the pandemic, in 2019, SriLankan had an all-Airbus fleet of 27 wide and narrow-bodied aircraft to service its short and long-haul operations. During Covid, there were no replacements for three aircraft that left the fleet. The airline currently has 24 aircraft to operate to 40 destinations in 25 countries.” SriLankan Airlines said in a statement. (NewsWire)
