SriLankan Airlines, which reported a profit of Rs. 3.8 billion in the 2023/24 financial year, has reported a loss of Rs. 7.6 billion in the 2024/25 financial year.
This is stated in the annual report for the 2025 financial year, which has now been published on the official website of SriLankan Airlines.
As stated in it, SriLankan Airlines has incurred a loss of Rs. 7.59 billion in the financial year from April 01, 2024 to March 31, 2025.
Also, according to the same report, the company has recorded a profit of Rs. 3.87 billion during the period from April 01, 2023 to March 31, 2024.
Furthermore, SriLankan Group has also reported a loss of Rs. 2.7 billion in the financial year 2025. This is against a backdrop of a profit of Rs. 7.9 billion in the financial year 2024.
The total number of employees of SriLankan Airlines for the financial year 2024/25 was 6,071, of which 67% are male and the remaining 33% are female.
The number of employees working there is as follows.
Managers – 291
Pilots – 272
Cabin Crew – 940
Aviation Engineers and Technicians – 615
Trainees, Interns and Executives – 3,953
Employee costs for the financial year 2024/25 were Rs. 32,799 million, which is Rs. 32,799 million less than the previous year. An increase of Rs. 538 million.
In addition, Rs. 9,469 million has been spent on expenses reported as staff expenses, which has decreased compared to the previous year.
As of March 31, 2025, the government owns 99.77% of the shares of SriLankan Airlines Limited, while the Employees Provident Fund owns 0.09%.
The percentage of shares held by other parties is 0.14%. It can be observed that the expenses of the SriLankan Group have decreased compared to the previous year.
For the year 2023/24, a revenue of Rs. 339,591.65 million has been earned, while in the year 2024/25, a revenue of Rs. 303,093.89 million has been earned. Accordingly, the difference in the income of the two years is Rs. 36,498 million.
The annual report states that despite the increase in tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka in 2024, SriLankan Airlines served only 3.5 million passengers, a 4% decline compared to the previous year.
Accordingly, passenger revenue for the 2024/25 financial year is Rs. 234.5 billion, compared to Rs. 276.2 billion in the previous financial year, a 15% decline compared to the previous year.
The report states that this was mainly due to the limited number of aircraft available for service, delays in the release of aircraft from maintenance and engineering-related disruptions experienced by the airline throughout the year, which led to lower global revenues and reduced capacity.
Annual available seat kilometers (ASK) at the airline level have contracted by 5%.
The SriLankan Group has incurred a net loss of Rs. 2,735 million for the year ended March 31, 2025, according to the Auditor General’s report issued by the National Audit Office on August 12, 2025.
The Auditor General’s report further indicated that the current liabilities of the company and the group are higher than the current assets.
The Auditor General also stated that SriLankan Airlines has incurred a loss of Rs. 7,594 million.
Accordingly, based on the facts indicated, “there is an uncertainty that may cast significant doubt on the group/company’s ability to continue as a going concern,” the report states.
BBC