SriLankan Airlines is operationally profitable this year, despite recent reports suggesting otherwise, Chairman Sarath Ganegoda said, clarifying the National Carrier’s financial performance for the 2024/2025 fiscal year.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Ganegoda dismissed claims of massive losses as misleading. He explained that the previous financial year included a one-time foreign currency translation gain, which had inflated comparative results.
“Operationally, we are making a profit at this juncture,” Ganegoda confirmed.
“The financial burden from past borrowings and interest costs still weighs on the overall results, but the core airline operations continue to show positive performance. There was a massive foreign currency translation gain last year, which makes this year’s numbers look different. We issued a clarification on that on Friday (24),” he added.
SriLankan Airlines reported a group loss of Rs. 2,735 million for 2024/’25, compared with a profit of Rs. 7,925 million in 2023/’24. The airline attributed the difference primarily to a lower foreign exchange gain, which stood at Rs. 3,925 million in 2024/’25, down from Rs. 26,717 million the previous year.
These exchange gains result from the reevaluation of foreign currency-denominated, interest-bearing liabilities, meaning the airline experiences a financial gain on paper when the Sri Lankan Rupee strengthens.
Excluding these gains, the group recorded a loss of Rs. 6,660 million, an improvement from the Rs. 18,792 million loss recorded in 2023/’24 before factoring in exchange gains.
Ganegoda highlighted that improvements in passenger numbers and operational efficiency had helped stabilise the airline, even amid currency volatility and lingering debt.
Addressing speculation about potential privatisation or structural reforms, he emphasised that such decisions fell entirely under the Government’s jurisdiction. “That is a policy decision. I have no authority to comment on that, as it is up to the Treasury to decide,” he said.
“No formal steps, such as Requests for Proposal (RFPs), have been initiated towards privatisation or major restructuring. Any reform has to follow due process and to my knowledge no such process has commenced,” he added.