Sri Lanka urges airlines to fly full tank or fill up elsewhere

Sri Lanka is recommending airlines carry enough jet fuel to last return trips or fill up elsewhere, as the island grapples with a shortage of everything from oil to food due to a foreign exchange crisis. "We've asked airlines to carry the required fuel while operating to Sri Lanka, because there is a shortage of aviation fuel, and we have to manage the situation," Rayhan Wanniappa, a director of Sri Lanka's Civil Aviation Authority, said Monday. "Airlines are bringing certain additional supplies, while we are also providing from our stocks." Airlines that fly to Sri Lanka, including Dubai's Emirates Airline are tankering - carrying more fuel than required - while the island's flag carrier is using the Southern Indian city of Chennai and Dubai to refuel for long-haul flights, people familiar with the matter said, declining to be identified as plans are confidential. Sri Lanka has been plagued by a dearth of necessary items, power cuts and rampant inflation, leading to public protests calling for the ouster of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The country defaulted on its foreign debt for the first time this month, and has started bailout talks with the IMF. Sri Lanka has taken measures for minimum interruption to flight schedules, a spokesman for the airline said. The steps include fuel tankering and refuelling aircraft through technical stops at foreign airports, he said.<br/>