SriLankan Airlines said this week it’s continuing with efforts to minimise the impact of skyrocketing fuel prices. The airline said in a press release that its projected fuel bill this year is $500 million at current prices, approximately 50% of its overall costs.

“The airline is not passing the full impact of the increase in the fuel bill to its passengers. At the same time, the national carrier does not intend to become a burden on the Treasury and the country’s taxpayers, and has already put into action several measures to mitigate the impact of fuel price increases. It will continue to do more in the coming months,” the statement said.

The airline is already implementing several measures recommended by a panel of experts from IATA to reduce fuel consumption by 3% by the end of this financial year, and up to 5% shortly afterwards.
It has slashed budgets across the board, and is reducing expenses and minimising wastage. Its management is working on reducing the impact of its top 10 cost items, and most of the company’s Colombo offices are being moved to Katunayake, to save on high levels of rent.

The airline recently introduced a fuel surcharge, as many other international carriers have done, and will soon be temporarily reducing capacity on some routes in its network of 41 destinations in 22 countries in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. This is nothing unusual – many airlines around the world have already announced similar reductions in flight schedules. The new schedule is already updated in the reservation systems.