By Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera   

The issue faced by SriLankan Airlines was not because of  the shortage of pilots but lack of commitment by the existing pilots,  Civil Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said yesterday.   

He told Parliament that there were only 316 pilots when  SriLankan operated 26 flights and that there were 266 pilots now when  only 15 flights are in operation.   

Responding to a question by MP Dayasiri Jayasekara, the  Minister said when there were 316 pilots to operate 26 flights, the  operations went smoothly and added the issue faced by the airline at  present is due to the lack of commitment of the pilots.   

MP Jayasekara said there was high demand for SriLankan  flights for Australia and the UK, but there are no sufficient pilots to  cater to the demands.   

The Minister said the delay of the recent Korean bound SriLankan flight was because of the sabotage by the pilots.