Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL) Chairman, Lal Liyanarachchi has submitted his letter of
resignation to Aviation Ministry Secretary Ranjith Silva early last week.

Silva confirmed to The Sunday Leader that Liyanarachchi had forwarded his resignation letter early in the week. However, he said Liyanarachchi had not stated a reason for his decision to resign from the CAASL.

According to Silva, the CAASL generally undergoes a reconstitution process after a certain period of time and said the resignation could be a part of that process.

"He has not given any reason for resigning and I do not know anything more than that. I have however received the resignation letter," Silva said.

Many attempts by The Sunday Leader to contact Liyanarachchi for a comment failed.

However, it is believed that Liyanarachchi’s resignation was due to issues that surfaced following his objection to the decision arrived at by the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) to fly civilians between Colombo and Jaffna on a commercial basis without an Air Operations Certificate (AOC).

The operation of passenger flights without an AOC is in total violation of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) procedures.

Liyanarachchi had in writing objected to the Aviation Ministry Secretary of the SLAF’s move to carry civilian passengers on a commercial basis without the necessary approval.

Liyanarachchi maintained that an AOC was a required specification for any commercial flight operator.