Air fares reduced by 20% after rupee appreciation : Minister

By Ajith Siriwardana  

Claiming that airline agencies in Sri Lanka have reduced prices of air tickets by 20 percent in proportion to the decrease in the price of the US Dollar, Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation, Nimal Siripala de Silva said that they agreed to further reduce air ticket fares in the future.  The Minister made these statements at a special discussion with the representatives of airline agencies operating from Sri Lanka.  

At the discussions it was revealed that with the gradual improvement to the current economic crisis in the country, favourable tendencies prevailed for an influx of a large number of tourists to Sri Lanka. In the upcoming days, about 7 new passenger airlines are scheduled to touch down at the island’s airports.

  
Airline representatives pointed out that a traffic jam is currently  being experienced at the Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake due to delays in ground handling operations.  
The Minister said it was decided to transfer the ground handling operations from Sri Lankan Airlines to Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) (Private) Limited after a lengthy discussion.