Grounded, sidelined and forgotten

by Capt. G A Fernando MBA

gafplane@sltnet.lk President,

Aircraft Owners’ and Operators’ Association

There were domestic scheduled flights in the olden days, regular travellers could make use of flights to selected internal airports like KKS (Jaffna), China Bay, Anuradhapura, Ampara and Batticaloa which were, and are still, maintained by the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) and the Airport and Aviation Sri Lanka (AASL) at a tremendous cost. Today, the domestic operators have atrophied into ‘charter flights only’ operators. However these facilities are available to VIPs and VVIPs using both fixed wing and rotary wing (helicopter) operations. Unfortunately, the Hoi-pol-loi has been forgotten.

Domestic air travel could be made cheaper, more affordable and popular, if only the import tax and hence fuel costs are reduced. If a domestic air operator wants to buy ‘Aero Shell 100’ piston Engine Oil in Sri Lanka, he has to spend $18/- per quart. In comparison a quart of the same type of engine oil costs only $5 to 6/- in the USA. Totally disproportionate. The Harmonizing System (HS) Codes that is used by the SL Customs Department is incongruent, unreasonable and unsupportive of the struggling domestic aviation industry. Now the Budget Speech has come and gone. No mention was made of the Domestic flying industry. The Domestic aircraft are on ground. The aircraft on ground is a financial loss.

The Domestic Airline system together, could provide flights from one passenger to eight or a combination of any on varying types of equipment. For instance if four passengers desire to travel to a destination the domestic operators could provide a Cessna 172 (three passengers) and a Cessna 152, single passenger aircraft. If 11 passengers desire to travel, a Cessna 208 (eight passengers) and a Cessna 172 (three passengers) could be provided. They could provid air travel fo as much as 72 if necessary. Helicopters can accommodate up to five passengers.    

I know these are hard times, but it is high time the authorities thought out of the box and make Covid-19 an opportunity to look at developing the domestic flying infrastructure by subsidising internal air travel, share (pool) our government (Ministerial) resources to grant concessions and  move towards one economic entity an ‘Island Village’ even before we even speak of a ‘Global Village’. Let’s transport our highly perishable produce like sea food, flowers, fruit and vegetables with passengers, from their points of origin by air. Moving small quantities at frequent intervals, will cut down shortages, storage problems and ensure uniform distribution of goods and services, islandwide, by the use of multimodal transportation (Road, Rail and Air) at competitive (subsidised) rates. When the Covid-19 pandemic blows over, the resulting scheduled, domestic aviation infrastructure in place, will be ready to accommodate foreign and local tourists to the North, South, East coast from the West and vice versa for those passengers to whom time means money. For example, air tickets could be sold from Canada/ the USA to KKS or Batticaloa. London to Koggala or Mattala. The possibilities are unlimited. In short, it will be a good investment and the return on investment (ROI) many times higher. The State should invest money now and shall not regret it. (Spend money to earn money?)

I am neither an economist nor a politician and only a retired airplane driver (as my friend Elmo would say!). I hate to see airplanes sitting on ground due to incompetence of all concerned. It is now or never to reset the domestic aviation system.

The Millennium Corporation Compact (MCC)

The American MCC speaks of implementation of a set of rules, in a swathe of land from Colombo to Trincomalee, 40 km wide (?), joining up with a series of ‘Economic Centres’. One concern highlighted by the ‘Thinkers’ at the Organisation of Professional Associations (OPA) was that the remaining land North and South of the said strip, will remain poor and underdeveloped. On the other hand if land, for a radius of 40 km from the existing 16 airports, namely, KKS (Jaffna), Iranamadu, Vavunia, Thallady (Mannar), China Bay (Trincomalee), Anuradhapura, Hingurakgoda (Mineriya), Sigiriya, Batticaloa, Ampare, Mattala (Hambanthota), Weeravilla, Koggala, Katukurunda, Ratmalana and BIA, are developed as Economic/Industrial Centres, with varying earning capacities, products could be transported to and from Harbours and Airports through a road, rail and air networks depending on the necessity and all Sri Lanka will benefit.

In the beginning of the 20th  Century, travellers along Galle Road never ventured through Ratmalana in the night, when travelling (by cart) from Moratuwa to Colombo, lest they got waylaid by highway robbers. After the Colombo Airport was built in 1938, Ratmalana developed rapidly to be what it is today. Let’s look at the long term development of our fair land.

Think about it.