Global airlines see high costs, low yields in Sri Lanka
View(s):Sri Lanka is looking expensive with its costly air travel causing concern even as the tourism industry is eyeing increased travellers to the island with a number of its domestic airports spruced up to meet the demand of daily flights in future.
Sri Lanka is faced with a burden of high costs that seem unattractive to international carriers even as the global airline agency IATA has raised concern over the country’s high fuel costs in addition to whopping ground handling and embarkation levies.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has informed the aviation authorities that according to a survey carried out by them aviation fuel costs were at least 50 per cent higher than some other airports, Civil Aviation Authority Director General H.M.C. Nimalsiri told the Business Times.
He noted that at present the study has revealed that the aviation fuel cost was 50 per cent higher than some airports in the region like Singapore and Thailand.
In this respect, international airlines were also not finding it attractive to fly into the country due to the high costs, he said.
Mr. Nimalsiri explained that the airlines were complaining of high ground handling costs and embarkation levies that were higher than other airports in the region.
It was pointed out that while ground handling was earlier likely to have been withdrawn from the national carrier SriLankan Airlines the authorities were unable to do so since it could impact on future plans of the airline.
The Director General noted that they were faced with these issues that global carriers complained had to be passed onto the passenger as a result of which yields were low on this route.
Aeroflot will be the only new carrier to enter the Sri Lankan skies this year starting from end October. The Russian airline has always been in and out of the Colombo skies and is now returning after seven years and is set to be operational with winter scheduled flights till March 2019.
In the meantime, the country’s domestic airports in Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Palaly will be opening up for domestic operations with Fits Aviation and IWS Holdings both operating 50-seater aircrafts while Cinnamon Air is set to operate a Cessna Caravan 206 with nine seats that would later be increased to about 12 seats, he said.
“We expect domestic air travel sector to be expanded,” Mr. Nimalsiri said adding that they were yet to witness the response for this transport mode.
CAA and Airport and Aviation authorities will be providing the necessary infrastructure, he said by improving the situation at the airfields with air navigation equipment and aeronautical ground aid.
“We would not regulate on choice of route,” he said adding that however, charter flights would have to fly into one of the two international airports and be channeled through customs and immigration prior to heading to any of the domestic airports.
Daily services were likely to be operated at Palaly and the other airports, the Director General said noting that there must be a comprehensive marketing plan to get sufficient numbers. Moreover, he pointed out that they were likely to get more local carriers operating within the domestic airports in future.
Airport and Aviation Authority Executive Director Johanne Jayaratne told the Business Times that they were not expecting any revenue in the first year and that they would be providing free landing and parking facilities at these domestic airports as an incentive to generate increased traffic via this transport service.
In addition, a domestic terminal is expected to be opening by January or February next year at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) that is likely to cater to about 200 passenger flight movements daily.
Work is also underway to establish an airport at Sigiriya in proximity to the international heritage site the rock fortress in addition to focusing on the Koggala airstrip for these domestic operations in future, Mr. Jayaratne explained.