Sri Lanka’s national carrier to obtain a new cargo aircraft within next six months
Sri Lanka’s state-owned SriLankan Airlines is reportedly looking at obtaining a new cargo aircraft within the next six months due to the underutilization of aero goods transportation, caused by the lack of suitable aircraft that cater to this facility.
Speaking to The Morning Business, SriLankan Airlines Chairman Ashok Pathirage has said that SriLankan is on the verge of proceeding with the Request for Proposals (RFP) to finalise the provider of a suitable cargo aircraft.
“Cabinet has given us approval to go through the process for tenders. This is on lease, not a full purchase. We do not know the prices or anything yet; that is why we are going to call for bids,” Pathirage has revealed.
The SriLankan Airlines Chairman has also highlighted that this process will be proceeded with immediately.
“It is an RFP process. We will go for it immediately, as we got the approval. We will also sort the tenders, and hopefully we expect the aircraft to be here within six months,” Pathirage has commented.
Over the past years, the SriLankan Airlines fleet consisted of several economical narrow-body aircrafts. Consequently, the passenger air route network was the prime focus of the company. Nevertheless, due to the recent outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic limiting passenger transportation, most of the aircraft companies shifted this focus to aero goods transportation.
Moreover, considering the current market changes, the shift towards air cargo can be seen as a fruitful opportunity for main aeronautical companies to enter into the goods transportation market via main air routes, seeking the goods transportation market there. Thus, it was mentioned that this opportunity has the potential to strategically change the existing SriLankan Airlines structure.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s aviation sector is once again gradually returning to operations after the temporary halt in operations due to the global Covid 19 pandemic. Sri Lankan authorities are also in the process of developing and upgrading the country’s aviation sector as well as supplementary infrastructure facilities. Foreign businesses/investors could explore business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s aviation sector.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/24032021/Z_4 |