SriLankan Airlines (UL, Colombo International) has ferried in its first new widebody aircraft in seven years. The A330-200, 4R-ALT (msn 1261) landed in Colombo on June 3 on an eight-year lease from Carlyle Aviation Partners and was welcomed by the airline's chairman as a much-needed capacity boost after decisions to axe previous widebody orders and engine shortages had left the airline short of aircraft.

Sarath Ganegoda told the Channel News Asia outlet that negotiations to acquire two more aircraft by the end of the year were underway but did not specify the type. He said 4R-ALT's arrival was a milestone and a result of work done by the previous government and board of directors. However, he was generally critical of their failure to lock in a steady stream of aircraft deliveries.

"It’s not easy for us to compete with other airlines with our [existing] hardware," he said. "We can't afford to go for brand new state-of-the-art aircraft." The 260-passenger two-cabin configured 13.7-year-old aircraft formerly flew for Fly Gangwon, and before that, Garuda Indonesia.

Last year, former SriLankan Airlines CEO Richard Nuttall told ch-aviation that the airline's poor financial standing and lack of available cash made it difficult to procure aircraft in a competitive leasing environment.

"There are so many profitable routes that we can’t connect due to a lack of aircraft," said Ganegoda. "Even this [delivery] is not sufficient. As per our plan, we’ll add at least two more aircraft by the end of this year, if everything goes well."

In April 2024, the previous government approved a proposal to lease four A330s, including two from ORIX Aviation for six years at USD360,000 per month per aircraft and two from Aergo Capital for eight years at USD365,000 per month per aircraft. But Ganegoda said the decision was later cancelled. He did not say why.

Before that, the airline ordered four A350-900s and six A330-300s in 2013 as part of a USD1.3 billion fleet renewal campaign, but the A350s were never taken up. Later inquiries revealed corruption in the procurement process but the A330s did eventually turn up, albeit via leases. Ganegoda is now pursuing Airbus for compensation over the A350 order.

SriLankan Airlines currently operates 23 aircraft, including seven A320-200s, two A320-200N, four A321-200N, three A330-200s, and seven A330-300s. All are leased, and Ganegoda says one of the problems SriLankan faced in recent years was aircraft going out of lease and being unable to source replacements. Because of cancelled orders, there was no pipeline of incoming aircraft and the fleet has "whittled down."

"There is a dearth of aircraft," he said. "We can't add them per our plans and wishes." Despite this, Ganegoda says SriLankan's medium to long term goal is to double the fleet within the next five years.

Ganegoda also said Sri Lanka's president, Anura Kumara Disanayake, was taking a lot of interest in the airline, having shifted responsibility for it from the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Aviation Services to the Ministry of Finance. As well as being president, Disanayake heads that ministry and is now the airline's "line minister." Ganegoda said this was a plus for the airline.

4R-ALT is expected to begin revenue flights in mid-June.