SRILANKAN Airlines will be discontinuing flights to Paris soon after a major convention of French travel agents concludes in Colombo on the first week of November.
It had earlier on May 1 cut flights to Rome. Flights to Frankfurt and London will continue for now, it’s only remaining stops in Europe.
The airline, which reported an accumulated loss of 140 billion rupees (US$958 million) as of March 31, is being restructured to make it more attractive for acquisition, said Eran Wickremaratne, deputy ministry of the Public Enterprise Development in Sri Lanka to parliament on Tuesday.
“We have to dress up the bride to seek a proper suitor,” said the deputy minister, whose ministry handles the airline.
The airline has been in the news over the past few weeks after its burgeoning debt situation and weak financials were released by the government.
It is also currently undergoing staff cuts with a voluntary retirement scheme on the cards for its 7,000 strong workforce.
SriLankan Airlines’ chairman Ajit Dias says the goal now is to change its focus, especially towards India, and will position itself as an Asian carrier.
The airline currently has 100 weekly flights to India and is now sourcing for a local public relations agency there.
