Colombo, Oct 4 (NIA) – Sri Lanka’s state owned budget airline, Mihin Lanka, will end all flights from Oct 30 and merge with the country’s national airline carrier, Sri Lankan Airlines, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.
Mihin Lanka, which was launched as a budget airways in 2007, currently conducts flights to several destinations including Bahrain, Dhaka, Gaya, Madurai, Muscat and Seychelles.
However, since its inception, the airline had been plagued by financial losses, debt, waste, corruption and other irregularities.
In the statement, Mihin Lanka said that these measures were taken according to a decision of the government as part of its long term strategy to restructure and strengthen the island’s aviation industry.
Sri Lankan Airlines which faces a massive debt of nearly 3 billion dollars is also searching for an international partner who could manage and invest in it.
Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, had in April said that Sri Lankan Airlines was a ‘landmine’ for the country’s economy with its high debts and the government would take over part of its debts in order to seek for an international partner or investor.
