Sri Lanka in talks with AerCap to cancel three Airbus 350s

ECONOMYNEXT – State-run SriLankan Airlines is in talks with AerCap, a Dutch aviation lender to cancel orders to lease three Airbus A350 aircraft which did not suit its network and was too expensive to operate, a top official said.

One A350 is due in October, but SriLankan no longer wants to aircraft.

"We cannot operate them. We will make a bigger loss if we try to operate them," SriLankan Chairman Ajith Dias told reporters.

SriLankan has already cancelled one aircraft leased from AerCap paying a penalty of 17.5 million dollars.

The aircraft was ordered by the ousted Rajapaksa regime, when ex-President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s brother-in-law Nishantha Wickremasinghe was chairman.

SriLankan had ordered another 4 A350s directly from Airbus.

SriLankan’s new Board and management are focusing on cutting losses. The airline had already stopped flying to Mattala and are also cutting loss-making routes. (Colombo/Sept08/2016)