Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena appointed a special commission charged with investigating alleged fraudulent practices at national airlines SriLankan Airlines and budget carrier Mihin Lanka.
The Presidential Commission will look into loans, shares and investments between the airlines and the Treasury and banks, and also the controversial termination of the agreement between SriLankan Airlines and Emirates in 2008.
Emirates paid US$70 million for a minority stake in SriLankan in 2006 and had a contract to fully manage airline operations.
That came to an abrupt end when Emirates refused to bump fare paying business class passengers to give seats to members of former President Mahinda Rajapakse’s family.
Rajapakse then booted the Emirates-appointed CEO.
Since then it has been constantly downhill for the airline, which now has more than US$3 billion debts.
The five-member commission will take a look at the ‘termination of agreements between Sri Lankan Airlines and Emirates, including reasons and ramifications thereof.’
A separate criminal probe is already under way into a billion-dollar order for Airbus aircraft.
The Sri Lanka government has been seeking investment from international airlines under a public-private partnership but so far with little interest
