No Approval For Oman Air To Resume Flights

Chamal Rajapaksa

By Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema

Sri Lankan authorities are yet to give the necessary approvals to Oman Air to resume flights to Sri Lanka and a final decision on the matter is to be arrived at during the next few weeks.

Ports and Aviation Minister Chamal Rajapaksa said the Sri Lankan government was still holding discussions with Oman Air officials on granting permission for Oman Air flights to land in Colombo.

According to him, the Sri Lankan authorities are not agreeable to the number of flights requested to be flown into Sri Lanka by Oman Air.

Rajapaksa observed that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed with Oman Air in 2003, but the airline did not make use of it until now.
He added that the airline has now requested to operate seven flights to Sri Lanka on a weekly basis. The country’s official carrier, SriLankan Airlines, currently operates two flights per week to Oman.

“We cannot allow Oman Air to operate a large number of flights to Sri Lanka as we need to safeguard our national interests as well. We have to ensure that there is air traffic for SriLankan Airlines,” he said.

Rajapaksa said it would take a few more weeks to arrive at a final decision on the matter.

Oman Air was to resume flights to Sri Lanka on October 10 after the airline stopped operating flights to the country during the war. However, Oman Air had to cancel its October 10th flight when the Sri Lankan aviation authorities failed to issue the necessary approval.

Oman Air attributed the cancellation of its flight to Sri Lanka on the inability to secure approval from the Sri Lankan authorities. However, given the present conditions, the resumption of flights to Sri Lanka by Oman Air may take longer than expected.

Oman Air authorities said the cancellation of the airline’s flight to Sri Lanka on October 10 resulted in the airline having to make alternative travel arrangements for the 300 passengers affected by the cancellation.