Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2021-03-15

Obtaining a Cargo Freighter for SriLankan Airlines Limited (SLA) on lease basis

- The fleet of SriLankan Airlines Limited contained a grater share of economical narrow-body aircraft. In consequence of that, more attention has been drawn on predominantly passenger route network in the recent years which resulted in under utilization of cargo potential due to the non-availability of suitable aircraft to cater to the cargo operations. With the COVID – 19 outbreak, most of the Aviation Companies have paid attention on cargo transportation due to the limitation of passenger transportation. SriLankan Airlines maintains its cargo operations for 26 destinations and it has been found that this is a great opportunity to access to cargo market share on key routes, taking into consideration the present market changes. Accordingly, taking into account the potentiality of cargo operations, it has been planned to strategically change the current business model of SriLankan Airlines Limited. As such, the proposal made by the Minister of Tourism to obtain a Cargo Freighter for SriLankan Airlines Limited on lease basis, following the International Competitive Procurement Procedure, was approved by the Cabinet.