SriLankan Airlines says flights to bring back stranded Lankans priced at cost

SriLankan Airlines yesterday vehemently denied allegations in social media that undue amount were being charged to repatriate stranded students from India.

In a statement the National Carrier said fares were purely based on costs for the ‘special flight’ unlike generally-priced tickets that are based on market dynamics.

It said the ‘ferry flight’ out of Sri Lanka and departed India with an overall cabin factor of 50% or less.

“When the total cost is divided among lesser number of passengers, the per-passenger cost is substantially higher,” the airline said.  

At a time, when the global airline industry is at a shutdown, SriLankan Airlines rose to the occasion where staff of the airline including operating pilots, cabin crew, ground handling staff, planners and many others behind the scenes were risking the safety of their lives and families to operate a humanitarian flight that did not have a commercial objective.

“It is in this respect the airline had to quote fares that were purely based on costs for the special repatriation flight unlike general market fares that are based on market dynamics,” SriLankan Airlines said.

“When operating to destinations that the airline ‘does not’ currently fly to as in the case of Kathmandu, and Amritsar the operating cost such as landing, parking, ground handling, etc. are incurred at prevailing rates in the absence of service contracts with suppliers. As such, these costs are relatively higher. These main operating costs are beyond the control of the airline and are incurred despite lower cabin factors,” the statement said.

Whilst most airports have shut down, SriLankan Airlines had to carry fuel from Colombo for the return journey, catering services and organise standby ground services for any unforeseen emergency.

“SriLankan Airlines clarified details of social media posts that are currently circulating, implying that the airline has charged an excessive sum of money from passengers who were on a specially-operated flight to repatriate stranded Sri Lankan students from India to Sri Lanka. SriLankan Airlines wishes to state that the above-mentioned flight was specifically operated as a ‘special flight’, based on the request made by the students and their parents to the Government of Sri Lanka,” the airline said.

Accordingly, the Government of Sri Lanka together with other State departments, Airport and Aviation Services Ltd., armed forces, medical agencies and the Foreign Ministry of Sri Lanka arranged for and enabled the repatriation flight with SriLankan Airlines by obtaining necessary international governmental approvals as airports and airline operations have closed in most countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was also noted that the special repatriation flight was operated under special COVID-19 airline operational procedures, thus being subjected to a further increase in expenses that included the use of personal protective equipment for staff, deep cleaning, fogging and de-misting procedures to disinfect aircraft, etc.