News
SriLankan regains A320neo Family ETOPS certification
May 25th 2018
The Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka has recertified SriLankan Airlines’ A320neo Family fleet for overwater extended-range operations (ETOPS) exceeding 60 minutes, Sri Lanka’s Sunday Times has reported. Read More »
In late January, the country’s regulator withdrew SriLankan’s ETOPS certification for its two A320neo and three A321neo aircraft after it emerged that SriLankan MRO technicians had dispatched an A321neo on a flight to Bangkok despite detecting metal particles in the aircraft’s LEAP engines. The aircraft in question made an emergency landing on one engine at Suvarnabhumi Airport on January 22.
The five A320neo Family aircraft in the fleet have been restricted to operating within a 60-minute range of an emergency diversion airport. This ruling has had a severe impact on some of the airline’s longer flights, including services to the Gulf, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. The flights had to be rerouted to comply with the 60-minute directive, adding time and cost to each flight. The Sri Lankan government is still looking for buyers for the airline.
