A SriLankan Airlines Airbus A330-300 was forced to stay on the ground for several days after a rat was spotted on the aircraft while it was flying between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, resulting in a subsequent search of the aircraft for the stowaway animal.
According to a report by The Standard , an unnamed airline official said that the aircraft was grounded for at least three days at Colombo Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) after it had arrived from Lahore Allama Iqbal International Airport (LHE) on February 22, 2024.
The official added that the aircraft had to be inspected to make sure that the rat did not damage any significant systems, which would have posed a potential flight safety risk for passengers and the airline.
The Airbus A330-300, registered as 4R-ALO, has not flown since it landed at CMB on February 22. SriLankan Airlines’ other A330s have all been active in the past few days, with two exceptions: 4R-ALC and 4R-ALH. The two aircraft have not operated a commercial flight since February 17 and February 25, respectively, an analysis of Flightradar24 data showed.
The plane will begin flying on behalf of SriLankan on Friday.
When the economy of Sri Lanka collapsed, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) granted the country a $3 billion bailout in March 2023, Ali Sabry, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka, told the BBC that the government would privatize the airline as part of its fund-raising initiative.
When the IMF reviewed Sri Lanka’s progress in improving its economy in October 2023, Peter Breuer, the Senior Mission Chief for Sri Lanka of the IMF, and Katsiaryna Svirydzenka, the Deputy Mission Chief of the IMF, said that sustaining the reform was of paramount importance in steering the economy towards a sustained recovery and fostering stable, inclusive economic growth.
“Maintaining cost recovery in fuel and electricity pricing helps mitigate fiscal risks arising from state-owned enterprises.”
Nimal Siripala de Silva, the Minister of Ports, Shipping, and Aviation of Sri Lanka, harshly criticized the airline and its inability to operate flights consistently recently, saying that there was no point in keeping the airline flying with taxpayer money, reported Sri Lanka’s Daily FT.
“There are better initiatives that these limited resources can be used for the betterment of many people in the country.”
According to de Silva, potential bidders must respond to the Expressions of Interest (EOI) invitation. The deadline to submit any potential interest in the privatization of SriLankan Airlines has been set for March 5, with the government aiming to offload SriLankan Airlines to a private enterprise.
However, the minister stated that with the continuous reputational damage to the airline, some bidders have expressed their desire to withdraw from the process, harshly adding that if these developments continue, the country will be unable to offload the carrier even for free.
SriLankan Airlines could emerge as an attractive takeover candidate for Gulf-based carriers.
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