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SriLankan Airlines in the context of the country’s financial meltdown
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Whither the national airline? With the country embroiled in a financial meltdown of unprecedented proportions, on Wednesday, July 20, 2022, Parliament confirmed Ranil Wickremesinghe as the nation’s eighth Executive President by a clear margin. One of the many challenges facing the new President is the future of the state-owned national carrier, SriLankan Airlines. A perennially…
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Drowning in debt – Part 2 of the interview with Counterpoint
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Part II UL has to meet its debt obligations, or it cannot function- Industry expert Sri Lankan Airlines Cover Story Nov 2, 2020 Read excerpts of CounterPoint’s exclusive interview with former CEO of SriLankan Airlines, Suren Ratwatte, as he weighs in where Sri Lanka’s national carrier is headed. Q. What kind of restructuring should…
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SriLankan Airlines post-COVID. Does it have a future?
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This is Part 1 of a two part interview with Counterpoint magazine. SriLankan Airlines continues to bleed money- who would care enough to make it stop? SriLankan Airlines Oct 25, 2020 Heavily unionized and long used as a playpen by politicians, the SriLankan Airlines Group has incurred a loss amounting to billions in rupees.…
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Where is the Airline Industry headed?
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The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation held its annual summit (virtually) in Sydney, Australia last week. This writer spoke at the 2018 conference and was a panellist in 2019. By comparison, the 2020 affair was a shadow of its former glory. Despite the organisers’ best efforts to foster online chat rooms and virtual networking events,…
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The world’s longest scheduled flight
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The world’s longest flight What’s the world’s longest flight? That is a matter of some dispute and the subject of a ‘pissing contest’ among some of the world’s most prominent airlines. Current claimants Before the worldwide COVID-19 shutdown Singapore Airlines had a tenuous claim for the ‘longest flight’ — the Changi to Newark (New Jersey,…
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No more overseas trips?
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Is International travel at a standstill? Alan Joyce, CEO of Qantas Group one of the best performing airlines in the world, certainly seems to think so. Qantas has stated that the airline will make major changes as part of a ‘post-COVID’ recovery plan. This will include over 100 aircraft being grounded for up to 12…
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Has the mirage in the Persian Gulf come to an end?
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The Great Cull begins The full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the airline industry is becoming apparent. With travel greatly restricted (if not impossible) since late March 2020, the airline industry has been in a tailspin. Many airlines have ceased to operate altogether or have initiated bankruptcy proceedings. Many more have suspended their employees,…
