National aviation policy in the making

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By Chandeepa Wettasinghe
A national policy on aviation is being formulated with the help of the industry stakeholders, according to Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Chairman Shibly Aziz who was speaking at the Annual General Meeting of the Sri Lanka Association of Airline Representatives recently.

“We should have done that many years ago, but we had enough and more problems in our hands, and nothing could have been done. But, I think we’re on a better footing and now. We are trying to put all our thoughts into seeing what is the best way forward for the aviation sector,” he said.

He noted that a committee comprised of CAA officials, independent aviation experts and the Chairmen and CEOs of both SriLankan Airlines and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority are brainstorming policy plans.

“(We are) trying to put out ideas for the government so that they can embark on a clear aviation policy for this country. Of course it is not left to us only to determine this policy. There’s no doubt in my mind that stakeholders like you have to be involved, and your views will be taken into regard,” he said.

While the previous regime had included aviation, along with maritime, commercial, knowledge, energy and tourism in the ‘5 Hubs+1’ concept under the Mahinda Chintana plan, no clear cut national policy was implemented in any of these areas, developing the sectors haphazardly, and drawing criticism from experts in the respective fields.

The construction of the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport was such an ad-hoc measure.

“Sri Lanka can only have one international airport, given the size of the country... Mattala was only supposed to be a second runway, but things got out of hand,” Aziz said.

Meanwhile, he noted that the fully liberalized ‘Open Skies’ policy mulled by the old regime, and which current Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake last month said that Sri Lanka will adopt, is not the answer.

“I feel that we can’t afford to have full open skies, because it is not possible,” Aziz noted.

He expressed that many laws have to be completely changed to accommodate such a policy, and that some American and Japanese Airlines which were given full liberalization in a case by case basis are not utilizing Sri Lanka, thereby calling to question the wisdom of open skies.

“On the other hand, we can do more liberalized access,” he said.

Aziz further added that the national carrier SriLankan is also heavily protesting against open skies, to protect its market share.

He noted that protectionism is undesirable, and that competition must be promoted in Sri Lanka, as the country sitting in the Indian Ocean rim, will be at the heart of the global aviation boom, and that the growth will not be affected in the future.

“World aviation growth will double in the next 15 years with passengers growing from 3.5 billion to 7.5 billion. 2/3 of the growth will be in Asia Pacific. The future is here. We should be happy to be in Sri Lanka. Don’t be disappointed about the country. We’re at the cusp of development. Sri Lanka has to be ready,” Aziz said.

He called on for the establishment of more flying schools, and for foreign airlines to set up hubbing operations in the underutilized Mattala Airport, for which maximum subsidies would be offered to both local and foreign companies.

 

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Austrian Airlines to resume operations

Austrian flag carrier Austrian Airlines will be commencing operations from Colombo this October, Civil Aviation Authority Chairman Shibly Aziz said.

“Austrian Airlines is returning to Sri Lanka. They had 3 weekly flights to Colombo, but they stopped operations in 2007,” Sri Lanka Association of Airline Representatives (SLAAR) Chairman Eustace Silva added.

The European carrier was going through a rough patch in the late 2000s, which led to the airline being acquired by Germany’s Lufthansa.

Targeting the winter tourist segment, the renewed operations to Colombo will start with one weekly flight from Vienna every Tuesday aboard a Boeing 767, and the 7,450 kilometre journey takes approximately 9 hours and 10 minutes. Roundtrip costs start from 679 Euros.

Meanwhile, Silva said that Air China will be setting up 3 new flights from Beijing, while China Eastern will set up new flights from Shanghai.

He said that General Sales Agents of Airlines (GSA) represented by SLAAR undertake great responsibility in maintaining financial buffers, guaranteeing infrastructure and staffing and marketing Sri Lanka as a destination to foreign airlines, in order to attract more flights to the country.

Aziz said that Sri Lanka will welcome any airline which wants to operate flights to and from Sri Lanka through GSAs, and called for further creation of passenger and cargo GSAs.

“We’d rather deal with GSAs than with foreign airlines which operate from thousands of miles away, directly,” he said.