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Thursday, 1 December 2016 00:08 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Cabinet yesterday approved the move to forge a Private Public Partnership to operate a domestic airline service with the Air Force.
The Cabinet paper submitted by President Maithripala Sirisena, in his capacity as the Defence Minister, proposes to maintain internal airline service through Helitours by Sri Lanka Air Force, in partnership with “any willing private investor”.
The investment by the private party should be a “substantial amount of the total investment,” the Cabinet paper stated.
“The decision was made to ensure better service is delivered to the people,” Cabinet co-spokesperson Minister Gayantha Karunathilaka said.
However, he failed to explain why the Government took the decision to develop a civilian air line in partnership with the Air Force, when official policy is to have the military not engage in civilian economic activities. Karunathilaka insisted that more details would be provided after consulting the responsible line ministries.
The proposal has also received a nod from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Management (CCEM), which evaluated observations by the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on a Private-Public Joint Venture Partnership for a domestic airline at a Cabinet meeting held in August. The CCEM recommends forming a company in which “the private investor and the Air Force will have shares”, and that the private investor “should be able to invest a substantial amount of the total investment,” but does not specify the amount to be invested or percentage of shares to be held by each party.
The Cabinet proposes to buy two civilian aircrafts which meet qualifications and registrations recognised by European Airline Safety Agency (EASA) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) through any private investor in Sri Lanka, while the Air Force is to facilitate services by providing the air crew and ground staff for operation.
