The privatisation of SriLankan Airlines will be finalised by June 30, 2024, according to Sri Lanka’s State-Owned Enterprises Restructuring Unit.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is expected to present its proposal for the airline’s privatisation by the end of this year.
SriLankan Airlines, which is among the 85 state-run enterprises recommended for privatization, has been in talks with potential investors, including Emirates, the Adani Group, and Tata Sons.
In recent times SriLankan Airlines experienced reliability issues with a high cancellation rate due to a number of grounded aircraft.
The airline is facing challenges in leasing additional A330 aircraft, with five attempts resulting in no success so far. Talks with lessors are ongoing. Sri Lankan lessors include ALC, Apollo and Avolon.
SriLankan Airlines was launched in 1979 as Air Lanka following the termination of operations of the original Sri Lankan flag carrier Air Ceylon. The Airline has an all Airbus fleet of 22 aircraft and operates to 126 destinations in 61 countries, including codeshare operations. Sligo born Dermot Mannion was a director of Sri Lankan Airways and is credited with helping save the airline form bankruptcy before become CEO of Aer Lingus from 2005 to 2009.
