Special UL London - Shanghai charter flight, a commercial deal

• All passengers paid for tickets -   Govt 

By Jamila Husain   

A Sri Lankan Airlines special charter flight, which recently travelled between London and Shanghai carrying Chinese passengers, operated purely as a commercial flight  following a request made by Chinese authorities.  

 
The matter had created controversy recently after UNP MP Mangala Samaraweera queried on his Twitter account as to why  UL  had operated a flight to transport  Chinese passengers, and why China did not choose one of its own airlines to carry their citizens home.   

Samaraweera claimed  China had over a dozen international carriers and  queried if all the passengers had been tested/quarantined before leaving London. 

The UL 504 flight from London, had landed at the BIA and passengers were in transit for two hours before departing for Shanghai on UL 866. 
All passengers on board were Chinese nationals.   

An authoritative source told Daily Mirror, that passengers had paid for their airline tickets and Sri Lankan had assisted China in its request, on humanitarian grounds, as China needed the assistance of more international airlines to help them transport their citizens out of the UK.   

The source further said that this trip helped Sri Lankan airlines earn some revenue at a time when the global airline market had been severely hampered following the closure of airports in several countries.
“What is wrong in operating a flight, if it was paid for? Sri Lankan Airlines carried human beings not animals,” a government source said.   

When contacted, an official from the Chinese Embassy in Colombo said its embassies in London and Colombo were not aware of this particular flight but they appreciated Sri Lankan Airlines’ service at this time. The official said they learned that this flight operated purely under a commercial arrangement under strict quarantine regulations and the passengers, who were students had paid for their tickets.   

Sri Lanka’s Airport and Aviation Services, who also released a short statement soon after Samaraweera’s query, said  all passengers who transited at the BIA after landing from London were transferred from aircraft to aircraft within a radius of 100 meters at the parking bay, with the highest focus and adherence to health regulations.   
None of the said passengers were brought into the terminal. 

Samaraweera later on his Twitter account said he was happy Sri Lanka had been able to help Chinese students in London return to China. He called on the government to also help hundreds of Sri Lankan students without VIP connections who wished to return  home.