The Sri Lankan government has decided to divest the ownership of its national carrier SriLankan Airlines, a statement from the ministry revealed. As per the cabinet’s decision, the airline’s management will soon be reshuffled and a considerable number of shares would be handed over to select investors through a transparent procurement process.
The State-Owned Enterprises Restructuring Unit has been given the task to study the methodology for the handover and make recommendations to the cabinet for the same, the statement said.
In August 2022, Srilankan government was planning to sell 49% of its stake in the catering and ground-handling units of the airline to restructure it. Now the government is planning to hand over the management of airlines in addition to selling its shares.
Experts said that one of the major reasons behind the decision to privatize SriLankan Airlines is the consistent losses incurred by the national carrier over many years.
In the FY 2020-21 the airline incurred a loss of INR 45bn. By March 32, 2021 the total loss was INR 372bn.