Sri Lanka Aviation

Reason - Mismanagement of UL has left it with a debt of about $3.25 billion.
It last made a profit in 2009 & Also UL incurred an annual loss of $182.50 million.

Finally some good news for SriLanka!

Lets take Air Asia India for example, i've traveled on them myself and they, unlike other domestic Carriers in India were quick to target markets that were undeserved and built up on that such as Ranchi, Vishakapatnam and Guwahati.

Similarly, the proposal to have aircraft based in Mattala and Jaffna are highly credible since GoSL based aircraft in Mattala and never had any solution to facilitate domestic travel within Sri Lanka even when they had an LCC, namely Mihin Lanka at their disposal . Such links domestically and internationally would be fruitful in terms of the countries economy, since many tourists on a short visit to the Island are reluctant to spend time on the road and therefore air-links are a major requirement.

Civil Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva raised objection saying the Bandaranaike International Airport had no terminal space to support the number of aircraft AirAsia hoped to bring in.
- If you have no terminal space why not make use of probably the only Arline that is actually willing and interested in investing in SriLanka and build another, rather than wasting state funding? Recall where Mattala was predicted to be and where it is right now?

For God's sake let this be handled by those who are qualified to make decisions with this regard and those who posses a knowledge in aviation and tourism.
Forget Mattala, Jaffna and domestic aviation if this deal doesn't work out, no point establishing a committee to probe into why it didn't work out once a stupid decision is taken and AirAsia pack up and leave

Lets hope GoSL doesn't ruin this opportunity!

Similarly, the proposal to have aircraft based in Mattala and Jaffna are highly credible since GoSL .
Then Jaffna airport and air strip should be developed to Standards!

Yes.. i too agree on the point that this will benefit SRI LANKA.. fate of SRILANKAN will not be impacted any of these moves.. because unless we have plans to grab the opportunity with whom can help us.. in the near future we'll have fly down to MALE, MUMBAI, CHENNAI to get europe/ME flights...

See what has happen to ALITALIA.. since inception it is a loos making avenue only.. ITALIAN gov also made all sort of attempts to save it.. and to mind you whether we like or not most of air liners are loss making ventures only.. so lets pave the way someone who will share to benefits 50:50 at least...

See what Dialog doing.. do anyone fingering them and say DIALOG you are an outsider.. pls leave this country and mind your business.. no why.. if Dialog not here.. we would have still being using land lines or analogue mobiles...
Competitive environment crated by Dialog had led others also to get it the race...

may not be in the same phase.. but definite opportunities are there if someone who is capable of coming to here to explore...

I agree, if SriLankan perform the way they are at the moment, we will definitely have to go to Chennai,Male or other places in India to fly onward to Europe.

UL's strategy to become a strong Regional Airline is a good one, nevertheless they are bleeding money day by day due to the mismanagement before which is why the national carrier is turbulent and not yielding sufficient income

Just take Melbourne for example, Daily Flights? Really! what type of an idiot came up with that idea? Prices to Colombo from Melbourne have now reduced to around LKR 90K offered by Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines while Sri Lankan offers LKR 99K + for a return trip.

3 Flights a week to begin with would've been ideal, since UL has got their entire game plan muddled up because sadly they do not have the capacity leave alone the resources to be able to compete with the other carriers serving this sector.

See what happened to the daily CMB-GAN flight? Now downgraded to 4 a week. A good lesson learnt in the past. I remember a post here stating that one rotation had less than 8 on board, the greater of the 8 being the crew. I'm not being narrow minded but i feel the same is definitely going on the CMB-MEL sector.

Anyways its best not to drag in AirAisa to pump in capital to run a full-service Airline such as UL. Leave that to another full-service airline, who would be able to resurrect Sri Lankan Airlines. Who knows, maybe Akbar, Tim or even the Etihad Group may agree someday or the other, just see where Jet Airways was and where it is right now after Etihad came into the picture

Lets hope GoSL doesn't go rejecting all the proposals from airlines willing to help out in this crisis for absolutely nonsensical reasons!

The closure of Mihin Lanka and SriLankan and the merger that occurred thereafter was was yet another disaster! I mean who would close down an airline that was slowly but surely gaining good momentum. They were doing pretty well serving Jakarta,Dakha,Lahore,Chennai and Madurai if im not mistaken.

I agree that MJ was mismanaged just like UL but ceasing operations was a stupid decision by the "Yahapalana squad" . What should've been done was to look out for Expressions of interest to Re-brand and run MJ thereby transferring their AoC to a party interested and im sure we would've seen AirAsia coming into the picture much earlier

Lets hope for the best

Just to remind you my friend, Jaffna Airport was SriLanka's Second International Airport in the past, serving international destinations in South India.
Jaffna is to be developed too since GoSL is supposed to be allocating LKR 1 Bn for a face lift. Even with the existing facilities even though being basic, Air India is interested in operating to and from Madurai,Thiruvanathapuram and Trichy. This can be done since Jaffna Airport can accommodate Air India's ATR 72-500 aircraft. So why not embrace the opportunity?

Yes this will benefit Sri Lanka, but not Sri Lankan Airlines, as the market share will be reduced and losses will multiply. People always go for low cost!! That means more people would go for Air Asia, a huge problem for Sri Lankan!!!

Please be reminded that AirAsia is a joint venture with GoSL which means that SriLanka would get a fare share of profits disbursed to them.

Even without AiAsia,SriLankan Airlines has already crash landed, what more do you want. What happened when Mihin Lanka was around? Did they fly to the same destinations as SriLankan Airlines? No, they catered to other destinations that were NOT served by UL (DAC,IXM,CCU etc) why SriLankan Airlines may face issues is because they absorbed Mihin Lanka's operations which they alone can be blamed for trying to carry what they are not capable of. That's has got nothing to do with AirAsia

Be a little optimistic bro. Country First

Peoples are giving 1000 talks, but end of they day when they want to travel they check prices and select cheapest....
thats the reality, air asia is good move to have their base in colombo...

UL has to make profitable from partnership with some big name, other than end of the day we have to support to pump fuel to that...
normally government has to avoid these type of unprofitable businesses, i still like QR to have 51% and 49% into government on UL, they have to have decision making arm to get success

Eg- Malaysia is having its national carrier with few other budget airlines operate and everyone is on success

It is a welcome news ,good to see Air asia come in , it will help Srilanka to boost arrivals .If Srilankan was under the Emirates , Rs 3.5 billion of Srilankan tax payers would have saved .Majority of Srilankan politicos are out of touch with aviation business reality .Still they will try to object it with the expense of whole nation and pump money to Srilankan .
I hope with this move will not have major job losses in the event of restructuring Srilankan bcz excess heads can be recruit
by new investment such as Air Asia.

I don’t understand why most people think that AirAsia Sri Lanka will have a direct negative impact on SriLankan Airlines

They tend to complain and have suddenly started worrying about the fate of SriLankan Airlines all of a sudden. Sadly this wasn’t the case when Mihin was around (it too being an LCC)

Just look at the Malaysian Market?
It Malaysian Airlines as their flag carrier with its subsidiaries Firefly and MAS Wings, along with its direct competitors AirAsia and Malindo
Indonesia has even more apart from their national carrier Garuda Indonesia with further competition from full-service airlines such as Batik Air; LCC’s including Indonesia AirAsia, Citilink, Siriwijaya, Lion Air and Wings Air making up the rest.


Air Fares are now lower in Malaysia and Indonesia due to healthy competition directly benefiting the customers and giving then a wider choice when choosing a carrier to get them from Point A to B. The problem in SriLanka is that most people have a negative mind-set when it comes to FDI, even though it benefits the country as a whole, with some being “allergic” to international brands

The Coke you drink and the fuel you use are all international brands. So why not think positively on something and welcome a new brand that would benefit the entire country?

Think about the tourist influx, the job opportunities and more income that could be generated for the country? Quit worrying about UL, once GoSL agree to a PPP they’d be fine

There is a frog in the well mentality which unfortunately seems to prevail. I have heard people argue that the electricity board or the petroleum corporation should never be privatized as it ensures 'energy security' to SL.

I am not the least suprised that this mentality could leak into other areas as well. All the very best to Air Asia or anyone else who wants to invest in SL, there is nothing to stop someone nationalizing the asset in the intrest of 'national security' down the line.

This is not Malaysia! CMB is not an aviation hub!!! That means less passengers and cargo! One airline is enough!!

It will never become an aviation hub with that attitude. AirAsia will help CMB become more of a hub than it is now.

Though there will be jobs and opportunities for news employees, it might be a problem if Air Asia takes over routes such as Male and the South Indian routes, SriLankan would suffer more loss, due to pax changes.