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basheer1211 · Member Joined: 28 Dec 2012 Posts: 271 Location: India

Diverting an aircraft on a scheduled flight from one country to yet another is an exclusive privilege enjoyed by Heads of State or Government. However, in Sri Lanka it is a different story. Even the Chairman of SriLankan Airlines, can do it by merely making a telephone call. Chairman Nishantha Wickremesinghe, his wife and a guest were on a non-official visit to Singapore this week. This is exactly what he did.

He ordered that the scheduled SriLankan Airlines Colombo bound direct flight from Kuala Lumpur be diverted to Singapore. It was just to pick him up. Passengers who found the aircraft landing less than an hour after take-off were baffled. No one told them that they were making a diversion to pick up the Chairman and party. It is later that they found out they were in Singapore.

The irony of this situation is that Chairman Wickremesinghe did not want to wait for two hours and take the scheduled Sri Lankan Airlines flight leaving Singapore anyway for Colombo. He was in a mighty hurry to get to Colombo. Little wonder that the national carrier, which prides itself over its logo – a taste of paradise – is also dubbed as the airline which ‘borrows from Peter to pay Paul.’ Last week, the exclusive front page lead story in the Sunday Times revealed how SriLankan Airlines is to raise an international bond issue for US $ 175 million dollars. This is to pay off an earlier loan obtained from the Dubai based Mashreq Bank and use the remaining funds to pay an advance payment for a fleet of new aircraft from the Airbus Industries in France.

An irate local businessman asked a crew member why Chairman Wickremesinghe could not wait and board the scheduled flight out of Singapore. Replied the crew member; “For them, our aircraft are like three-wheeler taxis. They can stop them anywhere and whenever and wherever they need it.” The businessman remarked that no other self-respecting carrier would divert scheduled flights to pick up their Chairmen.

It is public funds that are used to meet fuel and additional costs due to diversion of aircraft. Little wonder ministers in the Cabinet fear SriLankan Airlines are in for an economic crash landing. But, who cares as long as they can enjoy their own taste of paradise in the much touted miracle of Asia?

http://www.sundaytimes.lk/140126/columns/waste-of-paradise-by-srilankan-chairman-81174.html

Spiderguy252 · Posted: Thu Feb 06, 2014 11:12 am Post subject:

Moved to International.

Nothing about Lanka surprises me anymore. In fact, the refusal of such a pseudo-taxi service to some bigshot was one such incident in 2007/8 that led to the hasty cancelling of the Emirates contract when it came up for renewal, if heresay is to be believed.

It was to bump a few J pax off the flight to accommodate a high ranking family on an LHR-CMB flight on that occasion IIRC.
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Yeah.