• SriLankan Airlines plans to increase capacity by 25-30% with new wide-body aircraft
• CEO reveals plans to expand fleet to 50 aircraft within 5 years
• Current fleet stands at 22 aircraft, down from 27 before Covid-19
• MICE tourism growth expected to support SriLankan’s expansion strategy

SriLankan Airlines has revealed plans to add three more A330 wide-body aircraft to its fleet in 2025, increasing the total capacity of the National Carrier by around 25-30% by the end of the year.

Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, SriLankan Airlines Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Richard Nuttall revealed that they were planning to add three more A330 wide-body aircraft to the fleet maintained by the National Carrier by the end of 2025. 

“The plan is to double our fleet to around 50 aircraft over the next five years,” he said.

Nuttall further stated that the current fleet of SriLankan Airlines stood at 22 aircraft, down from the 27 aircraft maintained prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Although increasing the fleet to 50 aircraft sounds like a lot of growth, it is a very organic growth when you compare it to where we were in 2019,” he said.

Speaking at the launch of Sri Lanka’s first-ever Conference Ambassador Programme, Nuttall stated that if Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) tourism in Sri Lanka grew as envisaged, it would be beneficial in helping SriLankan grow as the large number of arrivals would give the airline the required flexibility to either add an extra flight or upgrade.

He further revealed that SriLankan and many other airlines had faced significant engine issues with regard to narrow-body aircraft, and that therefore, they were looking to add more A330 wide-body aircraft to their fleet.