Jet fuel shortage worsens SLA’s woes

SLA posted a loss of US $ 1.5 million in July, as the airline was forced to make fuel stops outside the country, due to the jet fuel shortage in the country.

After 16 years, SLA reported a US $ 10.66 million profit in December 2021 and a profit of US $ 1.7 million in the March 2022 quarter. 

This was a direct result of various measures taken in the 2021-22 financial year, including scaling down staff costs and overheads, renegotiating supplier contracts, increasing cargo revenue and creating an ambitious growth plan capitalising on pent-up travel demand.

However, SLA Chairman Ashok Pathirage said the airline returned to losses in July, as it had to incur additional costs up to US $ 7 million a month, due to the jet fuel shortage. Altogether, SLA is estimated to have incurred over US $ 20 million additional costs, due to the jet fuel shortage. SLA along with other airlines were forced to make fuel stops in other countries such as Ind ia to refuel, as a result of the jet fuel shortage in the country.  Ports, Shipping and Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva however yesterday said Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) has taken measures to resolve the jet fuel issue. “CPC has assured us with jet fuel for the next three to four months,” he said.