Sri Lanka state airline to get Rs25bn bailout: report

July 15, 2013 (LBO) - State-run SriLankan Airlines will get a 25 billion rupee tax-payer bailout, through a Treasury bond to settle fuel bills, a media report said.





Sri Lanka's The Sunday Times newspaper quoted civil aviation minister Priyankara Jayaratne as saying that the Treasury has agreed to pay 25 billion rupees owed to state-run fuel distributor, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation.

Another 11 billion rupees remained, the report said.

SriLankan had run operating losses of 20.

5 billion rupees in 2012, and Mihin Lanka, state budget carrier another billion rupees.

SriLankan also gets 100 million US dollars of tax-payer funded capital injections a year which was also initially paid through Treasury bonds.

It is not clear whether the fuel bailout is in addition to the annual injections.

The airline is to acquire a fleet of long-haul aircraft to upgrade its produce and cut fuel costs, but is facing heavy competition from both full service and budget carriers.