Sri Lanka’s loss-making national carrier, SriLankan Airlines, plans to add five new aircraft including two narrow-body planes to its fleet by March 2026, according to a top company official.
In a recent interview with an Indian travel magazine, SriLankan Airlines’ Regional Manager for India, Bangladesh, and Nepal, Fawzan Fareid outlined the fleet expansion strategy. “We plan to add two narrow-body aircraft between April and June 2025, bringing the total to 13, followed by the addition of one wide-body aircraft between July and October 2025. Two more wide-body aircraft will be added between November 2025 and March 2026, expanding our fleet to 25 by the end of March 2026,” he said.
The airline currently operates a fleet of 20 Airbus aircraft, comprising nine wide-body and 11 narrow-body planes. SriLankan Airlines will resume services to Beijing with four weekly flights starting July 2024, followed by Shanghai in November 2025.
“These routes will offer the quickest connections for Indian travellers heading to China via Colombo,” Fareid emphasised, highlighting Colombo’s strategic hub role.
The above plans contradict with the proposed five-year business plan which includes eliminating 15 unprofitable Indian routes, which reportedly incur annual losses of US$ 24 million. Further, it also contradicts with the proposal to transition from narrow-body to wide-body aircraft to optimise operations.
Fareid stressed that India remains a key market for SriLankan Airlines. To leverage growing demand from India to Southeast Asia, he noted that SriLankan Airlines plans to double daily services to Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore from July 2025.
“This will allow Indian passengers convenient dual-destination holidays, combining Sri Lanka or the Maldives with Southeast Asia, something no other carrier currently offers at such scale and convenience,” he said.
Daily Mirror
