A UK based company specialised in aviation, Nyras has submitted a proposal to restructure Sri Lanka’s national carrier, SriLankan Airlines, the Business Observer learns.
Secretary to the Treasury Dr.R.H.S Samaratunga who heads the Official Committee to Restructure the National Carrier said the Committee will scrutinise proposals and recommend acceptable suggestions that will benefit the airline.
“We will look at all aspects of the proposals and make the recommendations to the Ministerial Committee as soon as possible,” Dr. Samaratunga said.
Founded in 2003 by Richard Davey, the former global aviation leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers, Nyras specializes in designing and implementing strategic and operational change, restructuring businesses and improving performance within the aviation industry. The Official Committee has looked in to 5-8 of major areas that need urgent attention of the national carrier according to Dr. Samaratunga.
Ministry of Public Enterprise Development Secretary Ravindra Hewavitharana said the internal restructuring process and finding a strategic investor for Sri Lankan Airlines is being carried out by the Ministerial Committee and the Official Committee. While the Ministerial Committee is headed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe the Official Committee is headed by Secretary to the Treasury Dr.R.H.S Samaratunga.
Restructuring the domestic airline which had run in to colossal losses due to mismanagement by the former regime has been on the cards for a considerable time with no concrete action taking off ground to put the two state owned enterprises back on their feet as profitable entities.The national carrier which made an accumulated profit of Rs 9.288 billion in the financial year of 2008 turned into a loss making entity of Rs. 128.238 billion in 2016. Mihin Air launched in 2007 was the pet project of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and it is under his administration that the two carriers ran in to crisis. Operations of Mihin Air was put to a halt and merged with the national carrier in 2016. Finding a strategic investor for the loss incurred entity is vital and prior to that internal restructuring has to be completed,” Hewavitharana said. Aviation specialists said having a solid plan to revive the airline is crucial to make it attractive for any investor to get the carrier back on wings. Meanwhile Minister of Public Enterprise Development Kabir Hashim told parliament last week that he had requested the President that investigations by the Special Presidential Commission appointed to look into the national carrier and Mihin Air should be based on the J C Weliamuna report.