Sri Lanka falls short of full ‘open skies’ liberalisation

Sri Lanka remains committed to controls on moves to liberalise air transportation in the country even as the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) international conference in Colombo this week seeks to enhance the implementation of open skies throughout its member states.
Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva addressing the ICAO organised conference the ICAO Air Services Negotiation (ICAN) 2017 inauguration held at the BMICH on Monday stated that despite the reduction of state’s control on air transport, popularly termed as liberalisation or de-regulation, however, there is need to protect the national carrier - SriLankan Airlines.
There is a risk of anti-competitive behaviour that makes governments to step-in to assist the national carrier operate profitably, he noted adding this was the constraint that Sri Lanka faced in liberalising air transport.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) Chairman Udaya Nanayakkara during the panel discussion insisted however, that Sri Lanka needs to liberalise the air services in order to attract more airlines to the country that would thereby generate more tourist traffic.
He highlighted Dubai’s example of adopting an open skies policy prior to even establishing their own national carrier and later signing up bilateral agreements and spoke of how their product portfolio had expanded thereby transforming the desert nation to a tourism destination.
However, during the discussion stage of the conference, Civil Aviation Authority Director General H.M.C. Nimalsiri explained that while they were open to the idea of liberalising the air services of Sri Lanka they were also compelled to assist the national carrier to increase their viability.
He noted that at a time when Sri Lanka ran into security issues most foreign airlines were quick to pack up and leave and insisted that it was the national carrier that continued to operate.
Sri Lanka would be going for third and fourth freedoms of open skies (that allows basic rights to airlines to operate from one’s own country into Sri Lanka and back) but would be slow to take up on the fifth freedom of the air (the right of an airline to fly from one’s own country to two foreign states) as it could affect the existing markets and dilutes all carriers operating on that market, Mr. Nimalsiri said. (SD)