Sri Lanka Airline to Raise Fares Amid Mounting Losses

Sri Lanka airline to raise fares amid mounting losses

COLOMBO, July 15 (Xinhua) — Sri Lanka’s national carrier, SriLankan Airline, has announced a hike of 20 US dollar in air fares to European and far-eastern destinations and a 10 dollars increase on regional flights due to higher oil prices, local Website said Friday.

The increase is the second of its kind in three months following the rising fares by 50 dollars in April, the Website said.

SriLankan Airline, partly owned and fully managed by Emirates of Dubai, is set to post a 10 million dollars loss in the financial year ended March 2005 because of higher oil prices and the impact of the December tsunami, according to airline sources.

SriLankan Airline had posted a 56 million dollars profit for the financial year ending March 2004, the first ever profit recorded since the carrier, previously known as Air Lanka, was launched in 1979.