Easter terror caused cancellation of 1,000 flights in May
More than 1,000 flights had been canceled during May, 2019 following the Easter Sunday terror attacks, State Minister of Transportation and Civil Aviation Ashoka Abeysinghe told Parliament, yesterday.
Minister Abeysinghe said that the cancellation of one flight caused a direct revenue loss of USD 11,000 and an indirect revenue loss of USD 49, 500.
The State Minister said so in reply to a question asked by JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
Dissanayake was critical of the government’s decision to lower charges for ground handling and other airline services provided by the SriLankan Airlines.
State Minister Abeysinghe said: “This question mainly focuses on SriLankan Airlines. It is not under the transportation ministry. It is under the purview of the Finance Ministry. State Minister of Finance Eran Wickremeratne will give a comprehensive answer to this question at the next sitting.You may know that Sri Lanka has the highest embarkation charges in Asia. Lowering these charges comes as a Cabinet decision to attract foreign tourists to Sri Lanka.”
(Source: The Island – By Saman Indrajith)
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