by Suresh Perera

SriLankan Airlines is operating limited flights to many global destinations depending on passenger and cargo demand, a senior official said.

“No country has stopped aircraft from flying into their airports; the critical issue now is whether passengers from one country is accepted in the other because of stringent Covid-19 regulations”, he explained.

For example, Sri Lanka has debarred incoming passengers from India and Vietnam. Similarly, other countries have also prohibited arrivals from certain designated countries due to coronavirus fears, he noted.

With the BIA now operative, anybody can fly anywhere, but the issue is not whether they can take wing; it’s whether the country concerned will accept them, the official pointed out.

Though there’s no regular schedule, SriLankan Airlines operate flights to many destinations including London, Doha, Singapore, Australia, Maldives and Bangladesh on the basis of passenger/cargo demand, he continued. “It’s done in an ad hoc manner due to the pandemic”.

“There’s also a flight to Ethiopia in the pipeline to ferry cargo”.

For example, if a passenger wants to fly to country A, a reservation can be made and his booking will be confirmed depending on demand. As the national carrier is continuing cargo operations to multiple destinations, passengers can be accommodated on the condition that they are within specified regulations that qualify entry into the country at the point of landing, he further said.

“This is now the norm in the international aviation industry; planes can land but passengers have to be acceptable at the end destination”, the official elaborated.

Air fares have ballooned in the global travel sector as the cost of operating a flight is divided equally among the number of passengers in the manifest, he said.

“Under the circumstances, flying has turned out to be a very costly business”.