SriLankan Airlines recorded its first profitable fourth quarter (Q4) since 2006 for the financial year that ended on 31 March 2022 with group net profit of USD 1.7 million despite pandemic challenges , officials said.
The profit making SriLankan Airlines would be summoned before the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) regarding the plans to lease 21 planes , COPE Chairman Charitha Herath said.Hetold Parliament that he discussed the matter with the Auditor General and decided to summon SriLankan Airlines before the COPE.
StateMinister D.V. Chanaka said there was no immediate plan to lease the said planesand that a proposal has been made to lease out flights in place of flights whose lease period was to expire.
TheMinister said SriLankan was profitable now and that it had not obtained government funds for the last eight months. ” he said
The chairman of the airline Ashok pathirage noted that d it was able to achieve this financial turnaround through various measures in its 2021-22 financial year including scaling down staff costs and overheads; renegotiating supplier contracts;increasing cargo revenue; and creating an ambitious growth plan capitalizing on pent-up travel demand.
The initiatives paid off, with SriLankan making its first monthly profit since the onset of COVID-19 in December 2021 and continuing with a profit in the final quarter, the statement said.
The airline now has accumulated over USD 12 million in profits over the last 4 months as traffic has returned after the pandemic, he added.SriLankan’s expansion initiative saw the launch of flights to several new destinations in the last year including Seoul; Moscow;Kathmandu and Paris.
Frequencies were also gradually increased across the airline’s network in line with the recovery of the global travel industry and demand.
The airline has also carried out major campaigns to boost tourism to the country including a major initiative in India, roadshows supporting new routes and most recently sponsoring the popular French annual adventure trail, Raid Amazones, in March of this year
