ECONOMYNEXT – State-run SriLankan Airlines had lost 4.9 billion rupees in the four months to April 2014, while its sister budget airline Mihin Lanka had also lost money, official data showed.
A state report said SriLankan earned revenues of 39.6 billion rupees but had costs of 44.9 billion rupees.
Accumulated losses had rose to 130.9 billion rupees, which was almost a billion US dollars.
SriLankan had lost money ever since its managing partner Emirates was dropped by the ousted Rajapaksa regime.
Mihin Lanka its sister budget airline, also a folly of the last regime lost another 151 million rupees in the first quarter.
The government says it wants to merge the two airlines and devise a business plan to make them viable.