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Up, up and away with 2 more domestic airlines
View(s):Two more companies have applied for certification to the Director General of Civil Aviation to start domestic private and charter services, bringing the total number of such firms to nine.
Existing private airline companies already own 14 aircraft- eight airplanes and six helicopters, a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Dept said.
The latest to apply for air operations certificates are Fly Me (Pvt) Ltd and IWS Aviation (Pvt) Ltd. The directors of Fly Me are Captain Anil Jayasinghe, a former Singapore Airlines pilot, and Cyril Fernando, a businessman investor.
The Director of IWS Aviation is listed as Arthur Senanayake, who is also the Chairman of IWS Holdings, a logistics firm with a large number of government, private and NGO clients. Its website states that it expects to offer a wide range of tours and charter services.
Several companies are now flying helicopters for private use and to ferry corporate passengers. Most do not operate scheduled flights, but are available for charter. For instance, an Arab Prince last year hired one company’s entire fleet of helicopters for use during his stay in Sri Lanka.
“For some, the helicopters are mainly for private use, while commercial charters may be on a smaller scale,” a Dept source said. “There are many today who are willing to pay for personal convenience.”
Prices to charter a helicopter can range from US$ 2,000 per hour (most expensive) to US$ 1,000 per hour. Some companies are also running flying schools. Capt. Jayasinghe, who brought hot-air ballooning to Sri Lanka, said Fly Me is hoping to acquire three Cessna Caravan aircraft, while conceding that the private aviation industry was a gamble.
“The returns are absolutely limited,” he said. “It’s a very competitive trade. To make a million in aviation, you have to start off with a billion. But our aim is to have an absolutely low cost Sri Lankan operation.”
Capt. Jayasinghe said his main competitor was presently using foreign pilots. “As such, cost overheads are really, really high,” he explained. “We want to use Sri Lankan people and offer a low-budget service catering to the domestic market at under US$ 100 a ticket. We will start off with charter flights.”
They will hire four local pilots at the outset. “We are not bringing all three aircraft down immediately. We hope to steadily improve,” he said. “In our tourism, although there is a lot of hype, those who use these services are a very, very limited, a niche market. That’s the ground reality, and one has to learn to admit to that reality.”
The companies currently certified by the Department of Civil Aviation are Millennium Airlines (formally Deccan Aviation Lanka), Cosmos Aviation Services, Air Senok, Saffron Aviation, Daya Aviation, Expo Aviation and Helitours (Sri Lanka Air Force).