SriLankan Airlines in hot water over wet lease

COLOMBO (News 1st) - News 1st has continuously reported on the decline of SriLankan Airlines, with the increasing debt of the institution. The situation could not be turned around despite the appointment of a new Board of Directors and officials to the country's national carrier soon after the good governance government came into power. Against this backdrop, three Airbus A330s that were acquired by SriLankan airlines, with the aim of upgrading their fleet, have been handed over to a Turkish airline under a Wet lease agreement.The initial Memorandum of Understanding prepared for the lease of the Airbus A330s was flawed on a number of grounds. First, the agreement does not include any information on who will bear the cost of fueling the aircraft. It also does not include any details on which party is supposed to pay for the landing charges of the aircraft. In an inquiry made by News 1st, an official of SriLankan Airlines said that this is only the preliminary agreement and a number of other details are to be included. However, the fact that important aspects of the agreement such as which party should bear the cost of fueling the aircraft give rise to suspicion. Following concerns raised by trade unions over the losses that could be caused to the country owing to the agreement, a group of officials from SriLankan Airlines left to Turkey for further discussions. According to the agreement, all costs of future discussions should be borne by the relevant party. Therefore, all costs of the officials of SriLankan Airlines who left for the discussions in Turkey should also be borne by SriLankan Airlines. With the lease of these three aircraft, the only aircraft in the SriLankan Airlines fleet are three A330s which are over 18 years old.