SriLankan paid an additional USD 90,261 on passengers

SriLankan Airlines had to spend an additional cost of USD 90,261 on passengers in 2014 January, who missed their connecting flights after the then Chairman Nishantha Wickramasinghe changed a decision made by highly trained professionals over a flight scheduled for Paris, it was revealed at the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) on irregularities at SriLankan Airlines, SriLankan Catering and Mihin Lanka today.

Testifying before the commission, Operations Control Manager at SriLankan, Nishantha Handapangoda informed that this was the first time in his 27-year-old career that a Chairman has made such a direct intervention.

Dhammika Senanayake, also an Operations Control Manager, also informed the Commission that on January 25, 2014, two aircraft were unavailable due to maintenance, one which was to fly from the Maldives to Colombo and another from Colombo to Frankfurt.