News
SriLankan to lease A350s to Turkish Airlines?
June 24th 2016
A report in in the Sri Lankan Business Times this week suggested flag carrier, SriLankan Airlines, planned to lease three of its four on-order A350-900s to Turkish Airlines. Read More » The article, which cited government officials, said the deal was close to completion. The fourth A350 has been sold to an undisclosed aircraft lessor.
The three aircraft apparently earmarked for Turkish carry line numbers 52, 55 and 60. SriLankan was originally planning to lease them from AerCap. The airframes in question have been manufactured and part-painted, with only the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-84s and interiors still missing.
SriLankan, a oneworld member, changed strategy last year, after years of financial haemorrhaging. As such, the Colombo-based carrier curtailed operations to Europe and put greater emphasis on the Indian and Chinese markets. The airline has 21 aircraft and flies to 30 destinations. Orient Aviation learnt the carrier’s premium loads have “dropped rapidly” over the past six months, signalling a return to black ink this year may be hopeful at best.
