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‘SriLankan tickets among costliest’

25 Jan 2021

  • Returnees complain; airline blames low passenger volumes

  By Dinitha Rathnayake   SriLankan Airlines’ air ticket prices have not decreased in the height of the pandemic, with passengers who have returned to Sri Lanka on repatriation flights complaining that the national carrier’s prices are much higher than those of competitor airlines, The Morning learnt. When The Morning spoke to SriLankan Airlines Chairman Ashok Pathirage regarding the said claim, he said the prices of air tickets could be expensive due to the low volume of passengers. He noted that the state airline claims return flight-related charges from passengers who are repatriates. “For example, airlines are adding repatriation flights based on demand to bring people home. Understandably, tracking down the schedule for these flights is vastly different from the process for the regular routes. Many SriLankan Airlines flights operating as cargo flights are now bringing migrant workers home. This is expensive due to the cost incurred to pick up passengers from the foreign destination having to be added to the return cost,” he said. Passengers may have to pay the return ticket price, as the airline has to charge them for two segments, he added. “The prices of the tickets would return to normal after the global travel restrictions are normalised, but at the moment, we have to bear the cost from passengers. SriLankan Airlines is running at a loss. We don't have flights to run. Earlier, we were able to earn $ 70 million. Now it is in the $ 20-25 million range. Every airline in the world is in a crisis due to the global Covid-19 pandemic,” he added. Covid-19 has drastically decreased airline traffic across all routes, and the volume of passengers has been hit hard. The Government has begun to use cargo flights of the national carrier to bring down Sri Lankans in small clusters, along with commodities from other parts of the world, to expedite Covid-19-related repatriation. “We don’t want to be unfair to our passengers, but we have no other choice to cover our expenses. Sri Lanka resumed commercial flights after a 10-month hiatus, but it will take some time to increase the passenger volume, as at the moment we can only expect 50 passengers per day,” he further explained. The strict travel restrictions amidst the Covid-19 crisis in late 2019 continue to have a devastating impact on passenger demand and airline revenue, which deteriorated the outlook for the global industry. “Nevertheless, the aviation industry continues to perform a vital role by enabling the repatriation of passengers stranded around the globe and the transportation of essential goods, including medical supplies,” said Pathirage. Speaking to The Morning, Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) Deputy General Manager and Spokesman Mangala Randeniya said the repatriation process is a people-centric, transparent one, and happens through a joint network. The quarantine process is totally free for migrant workers; however, workers have to pay for the air ticket if it is not provided for by their employer. “The workers who registered with the SLBFE, seeking assistance from the relevant Sri Lankan diplomatic mission in the particular country due to the loss of employment, will be provided with an air ticket. However, we have to admit that the ticket prices are high due to the Covid-19 situation,” Randeniya said. “This is the reason the SLBFE advises all migrant workers to stay at their workplace till the agreement is over. If there is an issue at the workplace, the SLBFE advises workers to solve the problem before running away, as they have to face the consequences.” Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) (Pvt.) Ltd. Director Shehan Sumanasekara also said that in general, when faced with the coronavirus, the repatriation process is mostly done by charter flights which carry a lesser number of passengers. “The cost of the regular volume of passengers is covered by the few who come in currently. Thus, the cost is high and they average the price.”


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