COPE summons SriLankan Airlines officials

Officials of Sri Lankan Airlines have been summoned to appear before the Parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) on 25 April over plans by the Airline to lease 21 aircraft.

Committee Chairman Charitha Herath said yesterday the officials will be questioned over the lease plans which several opposition lawmakers said were untimely given the economic situation in the country.

UNP MP Ranil Wickremesinghe earlier this week requested that the Chairman and the directors of the Airline be summoned to the Committee to clarify moves to lease the aircraft.

SriLankan Airlines last week issued four requests for proposals (RFPs) to lease up to 21 aircraft to support its long-term business strategy.

Accordingly, 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% 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.