On a quest to find a strategic investor to help revive the loss-making national carrier, it is learnt that the government is close to finding a prospective partner to manage SriLankan Airlines.
Informed sources told Mirror Business that the firm likely to come on board to manage the debt-laden carrier would be China’s largest privately-owned air transport firm, Hainan Airlines Company Limited (HNA).
HNA is the fourth-largest airline in terms of fleet size in China and operates scheduled domestic and international services on 500 routes from Hainan and nine locations on the mainland, as well as charter services.
Its main base is Haikou Meilan International Airport with a hub at Beijing Capital International Airport and several focus cities.
It is one of eight airlines, all based in Asia, rated as five-star by Skytrax, along with All Nippon Airways, Asiana Airlines, Cathay Pacific, EVA Air, Garuda Indonesia, Qatar Airways, and Singapore Airlines.
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