Sri Lankan Airlines: Over Rs. 712 Million Duty Free Total Loss In Last Three Years & Still Continues

April 17, 2015

A group of airline professionals have confirmed that the loss Sri Lankan Airlines has incurred due to the ‘fraudulent’ duty free deal signed between the airline and its supplier Phoenix Duty Free Services exceeds way over Rs 712 million as opposed to the findings as highlighted by the Board of Inquiry into the misappropriations of the airline and headed by Lawyer J.C. Weliamuna and his team.

The panel headed by anti-corruption advocate and senior lawyer J. C. Weliamuna has said; “There is a major difference in the original draft agreement forwarded by M/S Phoenix when compared with the agreement SLA actually signed with M/S Phoenix. This difference caused a significant loss of revenue that SLA would otherwise have received”.

However a group of airline professionals who wished to remain anonymous revealed that the besides the contract being amended in 2013 to write off over US $ 2.5 million in the first three years of its operation, the airline failed to factor the fuel cost to carry the weight of duty free on board.

On the 14th of April 2015 ‘Colombo Telegraph’ exposed part of that loss pertaining to a sum of US $ 2,596,398 or Rs. 338 million in its story titled “Sri Lankan Airlines Rs 338 Million Fraud: In Flight Duty Free ‘Day Light Robbery’ Still Continues”.

The Board of Inquiry revealed in their concluded report that the Sri Lankan Airlines had also lost out a monumental amount of US $ 1.8 million as well in the first two years since the operation began due to the formula that the guaranteed payments were worked out.    

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