SriLankan Airlines told to pay its fuel bill

SriLankan Airlines has been directed to pay US$30m to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation on the 20th of each month to avoid delays in procuring jet fuel for its operations. Sunday Morning Business reports a senior CPC official, who asked not to be named, said CPC imports jet fuel every 20 days at a cost of USD30 million. It wants the airline to pay this amount in advance of receiving the fuel to avoid the accumulation of credit bills. Should SriLankan Airlines fail to make the payment, the official said: “Then we can’t keep ordering fuel as the payment has to be settled to the CPC on time. Sri Lankan is supposed to settle payments in advance to get these cargoes.” The official noted that SriLankan Airlines payments so far were insufficient for the CPC to procure jet fuel. This follows comments made in December by CPC chairman Sumith Wijesinghe that the national carrier must settle its fuel payments in US dollars through the state banks. SriLankan Airlines spokesman Deepal Perera said the airline had started settling its payments to the CPC in US dollars from the day the request was made.<br/>