By Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera  

Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) was  incurring a monthly loss of Rs.100 million, Civil Aviation Minister  Nimal Siripala De Silva said yesterday.    He told Parliament that the government would consider if a prospective investor was willing to invest in the MRIA.  

The Minister said however, there has been a drop in the air  traffic due to several reasons such as the Covid pandemic and widespread  protests in the country. Mr. Siripala said Ratmalana and Palaly Airports have also not been fully utilised as planned.  

“Not a single flight is arriving at Palaly Airport even  though several airlines promised to operate their services to it. Air  India also agreed to operate their services. But, they have failed to  keep their word. The project launched at the Ratmalana Airport with a  Maldives Airline has been a failure,” he said.  The Minister said SriLankan has also recorded a loss of USD  1.2 billion so far and that a Cabinet Paper has already been submitted  to restructure it.  
“49 per cent shares will be leased out to a prospective investor,” he said.  

The Minister revealed that SriLankan does not own any flight and that all the 23 flights in the fleet have been leased out.  

“If the SriLankan was not leased out around 6,000 employees would be at risk of losing their jobs?” he said.