The Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Aviation has directed the management of the SriLankan Airlines to submit a report about the recent dispute between the pilots and crew of the SriLankan Airlines and the pilots and crew of the UL501 Air Belgium aircraft.

When contacted by The Daily Morning yesterday (8), Secretary to the Ministry K.D.S. Ruwanchandra said that the Ministry has directed the management of the SriLankan Airlines to submit a report after investigating the incident. He also said that the Ministry is closely monitoring the other flights to prevent similar incidents.

However, SriLankan Airlines Chairperson Ashok Pathirage told The Daily Morning that he is unaware of the matter since he is currently not in the country. Meanwhile, the SriLankan Airlines told the media that they had already commenced a probe into the incident.

As is reported, the dispute occurred when the SriLankan Airlines pilots, who were expected to get onboard to be flown to other destinations, were informed at the check-in counter that they were not allocated seats in the business class as only one seat was remaining in that sector. According to news reports, when the pilots refused to get on board, it is alleged that the Air Belgium Pilot who was operating UL 501 subjected the pilots to racial abuse and said that if they did not get on board within a few minutes, the flight would proceed without them.

The SriLankan Airlines leased two aircraft from Air Belgium to boost its fleet, which had been depleted by expiring leases and aircraft grounded due to engine manufacturing defects. The national carrier received the first wet leased Airbus A330-200 in December of last year (2023) and the second in mid-January of this year.