Sri Lanka’s aviation sector is being publicly celebrated as a recovery success story under the present administration, but a closer examination reveals a more complex and contradictory picture, one where growth numbers coexist with policy confusion, procedural conflicts, and unresolved structural weaknesses.
According to official data from the Ports and Civil Aviation Ministry, the first eleven months of 2025 delivered strong headline gains. International passenger movements climbed to 9.23 million, a year-on-year increase of over 15 percent.
Aircraft movements rose nearly 15 percent to more than 58,000, while tourist arrivals by air surged by almost 17 percent to approximately 2.1 million. On the surface, these figures suggest a sector regaining altitude after years of economic turbulence, pandemic fallout, and reputational damage.
However, aviation analysts and industry insiders caution that the rebound owes more to pent-up global travel demand and regional tourism recovery than to coherent domestic aviation policy.
Much of the growth mirrors wider Asia-Pacific trends rather than outcomes unique to Sri Lanka’s strategic planning. In fact, several policy decisions taken by the current regime appear misaligned with established international aviation procedures and best practices.
One key area of concern is regulatory inconsistency. While the government has spoken of reform and modernization, airport operations, airline approvals, and route allocations continue to be governed by outdated frameworks that conflict with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards.
Industry sources point to overlapping authority between the Civil Aviation Authority, line ministries, and airport operators, resulting in delays, unclear accountability, and investor uncertainty.
There are also questions about policy priorities. Despite rising passenger volumes, Sri Lanka has made limited progress in attracting new long-haul carriers or positioning itself as a regional hub. Instead, growth has been concentrated on a narrow set of routes and airlines, increasing vulnerability to external shocks.
Meanwhile, promised reforms such as open skies expansion, private sector participation, and transparent concession frameworks remain either stalled or selectively applied.
Operational bottlenecks persist as well. Airport infrastructure upgrades have not kept pace with traffic growth, raising concerns over congestion, service quality, and safety oversight. Industry professionals warn that without procedural reforms, short-term gains could quickly erode, damaging Sri Lanka’s competitiveness against regional rivals like India, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The Ministry attributes recent improvements to renewed political attention and coordinated leadership, and while administrative stability has helped restore confidence, governance-by-announcement cannot substitute for systemic reform. Aviation is a rules-driven, compliance-heavy industry; policy rhetoric that clashes with operational reality risks undermining the very recovery being promoted.Sri Lanka’s aviation sector is indeed recovering but recovery should not be confused with resilience. Without aligning policy promises with internationally accepted procedures, institutional clarity, and long-term strategic planning, the current upswing may prove fragile. The real test for the present regime is not whether
