https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61474732

The new Prime minister has proposed selling off Sri Lankan Airlines as part of efforts to stabilise the nation's finances. The carrier lost 45 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($129.5m; £105m) in the year ending March 2021.
Who has deep pockets at the moment?

Risky to takeover a national carrier, when the country itself is in flames.

Ironically when Air Lanka was partially privatised with Emirates purchasing a 40% stake in the business and also became the main management of the airline it became a fairly profitable business. However due to, too much government interference they ended up selling their stake back to the SL Gov. and if by pure coincidence it starting going back into the red again.

avier wrote:

Risky to takeover a national carrier, when the country itself is in flames.

Perhaps they'll just float the airline on the Colombo Stock Exchange, rather than sell it outright?

Can Sri Lankan Air turn itself around to be profitable on its own within 3 years ? Are the management competent to achieve this, or are they stuffed full of political appointees and cronies ?

IF it can turn itself around the government will be straight back in there with fingers in the till.

Clearly a lot of problems to sort out and Sri Lanka isn't a great place to be investing in right now, however it's in sweet geographical location for hubbing between SE Asia / Australia and India. It's also pretty good for Europe - SE Asia, maybe a bit better flight time wise than a ME hub. A320XLRs could also reach Australia and some Europe destinations.

Maybe IAG should take a look.

One of the best assets for Sri Lankan was the country itself for tourists. Fantastic resorts. However, the country is really short of foreign exchange and is already running out of fuel, and electricity has been sporadic all around Sri Lanka.... Would tourists visit there? It needs to be a longer term investment....

If they do sell, I predict QR will be at the forefront of the bidders

Breathe wrote:

Ironically when Air Lanka was partially privatised with Emirates purchasing a 40% stake in the business and also became the main management of the airline it became a fairly profitable business. However due to, too much government interference they ended up selling their stake back to the SL Gov. and if by pure coincidence it starting going back into the red again.

What happened after EK left?

Did they go on a spending spree? Loose feed from EK? Fly prestige routes?

smi0006 wrote:

Breathe wrote:

Ironically when Air Lanka was partially privatised with Emirates purchasing a 40% stake in the business and also became the main management of the airline it became a fairly profitable business. However due to, too much government interference they ended up selling their stake back to the SL Gov. and if by pure coincidence it starting going back into the red again.

What happened after EK left?

Did they go on a spending spree? Loose feed from EK? Fly prestige routes?

This article gives you an idea as to what happened when the Gov. took back full control of the airline:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-32181504

Breathe wrote:

smi0006 wrote:

Breathe wrote:

Ironically when Air Lanka was partially privatised with Emirates purchasing a 40% stake in the business and also became the main management of the airline it became a fairly profitable business. However due to, too much government interference they ended up selling their stake back to the SL Gov. and if by pure coincidence it starting going back into the red again.

What happened after EK left?

Did they go on a spending spree? Loose feed from EK? Fly prestige routes?

This article gives you an idea as to what happened when the Gov. took back full control of the airline:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-32181504

Ahh I see - what a shame! Seems like they have such great potential of properly managed.

3AWM wrote:

Clearly a lot of problems to sort out and Sri Lanka isn't a great place to be investing in right now, however it's in sweet geographical location for hubbing between SE Asia / Australia and India. It's also pretty good for Europe - SE Asia, maybe a bit better flight time wise than a ME hub. A320XLRs could also reach Australia and some Europe destinations.

Maybe IAG should take a look.

Pre-COVID, they did good business on the Australian routes, especially from Melbourne. A fair amount of Sri Lankan immigrants, and their descendants live in Melbourne, and a fair proportion are very solidly middle-class. Sri Lanka was also starting to become a popular holiday destination for those looking for something different from Bali or Thailand.

Sri Lankan airlines almost seems like the Nigerian airlines....rampant corruption and mismanagement.

smi0006 wrote:

Breathe wrote:

smi0006 wrote:

What happened after EK left?

Did they go on a spending spree? Loose feed from EK? Fly prestige routes?

This article gives you an idea as to what happened when the Gov. took back full control of the airline:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-32181504

Ahh I see - what a shame! Seems like they have such great potential of properly managed.

Having had the pleasure of visiting Sri Lanka, it is a wonderful place as are the people. It is so sad that the politicians are making such a mess of the country, let alone the airline.

The government says;

SriLankan Airlines losses and uneconomical operations cannot be absorbed either to the limited fiscal space or state banking sector, says the Finance Ministry, who recommended the airline to clear up its liabilities through a proper business restructuring by selecting a suitable business partner.

https://www.newsfirst.lk/2022/06/15/sri ... n-in-2021/

So does EK come back?