Civil aviation in Sri Lanka is one sad tale of broken marriages and financial turbulence
World War II ended in 1946 with the dropping of two atom bombs on two big cities in Japan. In 1947, Sri Lanka’s father of civil aviation, Sir John Kotalawala, the then Minister of Transport and Works, was ambitious to do something for the country.
He adopted a young and pretty Ceylonese vestal virgin and named her Air Ceylon. He was thrilled to have her and gave her three beautiful Dakota DC3s, naming them Vihara Maha Devi, Seetha Devi and Sunethra Devi.
 Photo courtesy: ivan_corea.tripod.com |
 Photo courtesy widebodyaircraft.nl |
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He got her married to an Australian called ANA (Australian National Airways). This Australian could not go to England, as he was not permitted to go beyond Singapore. But by using her Air Ceylon name, he was able to travel to London and back through Sri Lanka from his home town in Australia. Unfortunately after four years, the marriage failed. It was very sad.
Subsequently, Air Ceylon had a number of marriages which failed during the 30 years of her life, largely due to the power struggle between her two uncles.
Her second marriage was to a Dutchman called KLM, short for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. KLM was kind to her and gave her a couple of beautiful Super Constellation aircraft and painted them Air Ceylon. The aircraft operated from Colombo to London and Amsterdam. KLM was proud of her and she was happy with that marriage. Unfortunately, this second marriage too failed after five years of bliss due to interference by the uncles.
Her third marriage was to a Britisher called BOAC. He was a bit of a proudie, and only waved Sri Lanka’s flag from the cockpit of his Lockheed 1011 jetliner, perhaps with a sticker ‘Air Ceylon’ on the fuselage to please her. Then again there was a fight between the two uncles, which resulted in the break up of her third marriage.
Again, one of her uncles had her married, this time to a Frenchman called UTA, her fourth marriage. UTA did not treat her well, as he too wanted to use her to his advantage. That marriage too failed, after a four-year relationship. At the end of 1979, poor Air Ceylon died broken-hearted.
While Air Ceylon was dying, a daughter was born to her, and her uncle named her Air Lanka. She grew up, but there were no suitors, and she was in a bad way when her uncle gave her in marriage to an Arab called Emirates. He christened her SriLankan. It was a happy marriage for some time, as the Arab showered her with gifts and treated her well. Sadly, her uncle had a tiff with her husband and snatched her away. Her husband Emirates had only to say “Talak, Talak, Talak” and thus ended her marriage.
Now poor SriLankan is on her own and is heavily in debt. Her twin sister Mihin Lanka, a comely lass, is also in debt, up to her neck. No one wants to marry them because they are so poor. Fortunately, their benevolent uncle is sustaining them both with large sums of money from the Sri Lanka Treasury.
It is hoped they will get rid of their debts and fly either by themselves or find partners and have successful and happy marriages, unlike their mother.
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