SriLankan Airlines has reported a profit of USD 9.25 million and a profit of USD 10.66 million for the Group for December 2021, its first profitable month since the onset of the Pandemic in early 2020, according to a recent company release.
The revenues are up by almost 200 per cent compared with the same period last year and has reached over 80 per cent of the pre-pandemic level.
“The sacrifices made by all our staff members have paved the way for a positive start for the New Year. During the past two years, we implemented multifaceted initiatives to reduce operational costs, for which each and every employee of the SriLankan family contributed, and we are reaping the benefits of our efforts today,” said Ashok Pathirage, Chairman of SriLankan Airlines.
“The future, however, remains extremely challenging with the spread of the new variant of the virus and we will continue to monitor the situation closely and take necessary action to ensure that the momentum achieved in December continues,” he added.
SriLankan Airlines has been fraught with challenges over the past three years starting with the Easter Sunday attacks in April 2019 that led to a decline in tourist arrivals in the immediate aftermath, followed by the onset of the pandemic in the first quarter of 2020, which is now entering into its third year.
SriLankan operated close to 800 flights during the month and carried a total of 228,203 passengers – in excess of 13 times the number of passengers carried in December 2020. Moreover, SriLankan carried a total of 7,877 metric tons of cargo, which is a 147 per cent increase over December 2020.
In the past year, SriLankan launched operations to several new destinations including to Seoul; Nairobi; Moscow; Paris; and Kathmandu as the pandemic showed signs of slowing and borders gradually opened.
