SriLankan Airlines: next plan to take wings after Presidential Election

By Kelum Bandara   

The government has put off its plans to find an alternate strategy to develop the cash strapped national career ‘SriLankan Airlines’ till the Presidential Election is over, an official said.   

Earlier, the Cabinet terminated the process of divesting it and decided to look for different models to develop it.   

The government “will now follow an alternate strategy, to be decided on shortly, to divest the airline based on a framework approved by the Cabinet of Ministers,” a statement from the State Enterprises Restructuring Unit said earlier.  

However, the government has now decided shelve the whole plan until, the Presidential Election is over.   

The government decided against selling a minority stake of 49 per cent of its national carrier, SriLankan Airlines, after none of the bidding entities that expressed interest in it was deemed “worthy.” Instead, the airline will undergo restructuring, Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation Nimal Siripala de Silva said in a statement earlier. Details about the restructuring agenda have yet to be revealed.