Revenue leakages at SriLankan Airlines

Thursday, 30 April 2026 00:02 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Internet bookings were introduced in 1995 by British Airways in Colombo mainly to bypass third parties, i.e. agents, sub-agents and other commission-sharing partners.

A customer pays for a ticket online in his hotel room, and the airline gets net revenue without payouts. British Airways, which introduced this in Colombo, was so unpopular that agents threatened and complained to the relevant Ministry against the airline. It was the same with all airlines, and in 2011–12 SriLankan started paying the General Sales Agent (GSAs) at the passenger boarding point. Say a passenger buys an online ticket in the UK but boards the flight on SriLankan in Dubai; the Dubai SriLankan GSA gets a commission for the Dubai–Colombo sector.

This is outrageous and a violation of the fundamentals of revenue generation. Only the Country Manager in Saudi Arabia in 2012–15 refused to pay the SriLankan GSA in KSA, saying it resulted in savings of $ 9,000–11,000 per month. As always, he was very unpopular with Commercial management. This was a kickback to some seniors at the time (with one beneficiary now in prison), but the accomplices are still in key positions at SriLankan. Furthermore, SriLankan refunds were outsourced to a company in Bombay, and 11% was shared with the same key people. This was how revenue leakage was taking place at SriLankan.

To award a General Sales Agent to represent the airline in another country, there is always a fee. Some key names coming up in the media pushing for new positions were all in on it. It was the same in cargo GSA appointments too. A lot more needs to be corrected in the national airline if the Government wants to pull it out of the woods. Some suitable people with integrity are blocked by these same cartels, just to milk the airline for their own gains.

A Senior SriLankan Manager