The Hon. Janitha Ruwan Kodithuwakku - Deputy Minister of Ports and Civil Aviation

Jathika Jana balawegaya· National List· 22 July 2025 ·Oral question: Oral Question: Airlines and Aviation Services (Q.8/2024)

Public Finance

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Deputy Minister Janitha Ruwan Kodithuwakku tabled details of embarkation tax and related aviation-sector arrears on behalf of the Minister, stating that CAASL was owed Rs. 27.66 billion as at 31 May 2025, mainly by SriLankan Airlines, along with a further USD 1.52 million in CAASL dues. He also provided AASL receivables as at 30 June 2025, including USD 7.42 million and Rs. 13.54 million from international airlines, with SriLankan Airlines accounting for 93 per cent of the USD amount, plus smaller sums from ground handlers and domestic operators. On recovery action, he said CAASL had pursued payments through correspondence, meetings, Finance Ministry notification, encashment of bank guarantees, and final reminders, but the Attorney-General had advised that the Civil Aviation Act lacks provisions to recover such levies following changes made in 2003.

Verbatim record (translated)

Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, on behalf of the Minister of Transport, Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation, I provide the answer.

¶ 02 - Rest of the Answer tabled.

¶ 03 (iii) Embarkation tax payable to the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL) by each airline as at 31.05.2025, and the interest applicable up to that date, is as follows (totals in Sri Lankan rupees unless indicated):

¶ 04 - SriLankan Airlines: Principal 20,681,865,921.78; Interest 3,973,526,991.68; Total 24,655,392,913.46 - AirAsia Berhad: 83,240,539.13; 5,581,622.39; 88,822,161.52 - Aeroflot - Russia: 381,958,485.00; 126,788,670.47; 508,747,155.47 - Air India: 57,587,313.10; 0.00; 57,587,313.10 - Thai AirAsia: 208,342,227.17; 13,475,984.88; 221,818,212.05 - Fits Aviation: 1,740,699,318.44; 386,037,402.62; 2,126,736,721.06 - Total: 23,096,106,491.52; 4,562,997,985.14; 27,659,104,476.66

¶ 05 Amounts in USD (CAASL embarkation tax): - Aeroflot - Russia: Principal 1,283,520.00; Interest 149,796.21; Total 1,433,316.21 - Rossiya Airlines: 50.00; 86,699.11; 86,749.11 - Total: 1,283,570.00; 236,495.32; 1,520,065.32

¶ 06 Note: Aeroflot has already made part payments in LKR; thereafter, CAASL has granted special approval to pay in USD.

¶ 07 Airports and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) (Private) Limited: Amounts due as at 30.06.2025 from the above airlines (selected entries, USD/LKR):

¶ 08 International airlines due to AASL: - Air Arabia Abu Dhabi LLC: USD 38; LKR 7 - Oman Air: USD 211; LKR - - Air Cairo: USD 3,444; LKR 54 - Air Global (Pvt) Ltd (charter handling): USD 0; LKR 675,059 - Air India Ltd.: USD 3,399; LKR 14,724 - Air Seychelles: USD 1,761; LKR - - AirAsia Berhad: USD - ; LKR 1,855 - Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd.: USD 828; LKR 112,517 - China Eastern Airlines: USD 33; LKR - - flydubai: USD 14,074; LKR 43,855 - Emirates: USD 167,194; LKR 82,574 - Etihad Airways: USD 2,034; LKR 13,114 - Fits Aviation (Pvt) Ltd.: USD 140,546; LKR 7,061,454 - Gulf Air: USD - ; LKR 6,848 - IndiGo: USD 52,744; LKR 33,307 - Jazeera Airways K.S.C.P.: USD 5,707; LKR - - Malaysia Airlines: USD 8,862; LKR 21,397 - Qatar Airways: USD - ; LKR 26,331 - SalamAir: USD 9,451; LKR 26,282 - Saudia: USD 1,141; LKR 21,863 - Singapore Airlines Ltd.: USD 18,451; LKR 1,320 - SriLankan Airlines Ltd.: USD 6,931,640; LKR 5,388,488 - Thai Airways International Public Co.: USD 6,156; LKR 576 - Thai AirAsia: USD 5,382; LKR - - Turkish Airlines: USD 30,118; LKR 11,491

¶ 09 Total due from international airlines: USD 7,415,038; LKR 13,536,260

¶ 10 Breakdown of AASL receivables: - SriLankan Airlines – 93%: USD 6,931,640; LKR 5,388,488 - Other airlines – 7%: USD 483,398; LKR 8,147,772 - Total: LKR equivalent 15,536,260

¶ 11 (ii) Ground handling agents (USD): - Skyways Aviation (Pvt) Ltd.: 345 - Ceylon Aviation International (Pvt) Ltd.: 71 - Colombo Handling (Pvt) Ltd.: 0 - IBS Support Services (Pvt) Ltd.: 14 - Serendib Airchase and Airport Services (Pvt) Ltd.: 0 Total: 430

¶ 12 (iii) Domestic operators (LKR): - Fairline Aviation (Pvt) Ltd.: 7,845,682 - Sakurai Aviation (Pvt) Ltd.: 487,940 - Millennium Aviation (Pvt) Ltd.: 1,212,750 - Openskies Flight Training (Pvt) Ltd.: 1,390,702 - Red Air Aviation (Pvt) Ltd.: 2,495,411 - Senok Aviation (Pvt) Ltd.: 39,784 - David Pieris Aviation (Pvt) Ltd.: 337,805 - Asian Aviation Centre (Pvt) Ltd.: 5,164,011 - Daya Aviation (Pvt) Ltd.: 1,875,008 - Fly Southern (Pvt) Ltd.: 7,351,757 Total: 28,200,851

¶ 13 (iv) Recovery steps: - Since 2022, CAASL has continuously followed up via email, official letters, and meetings on non-payment of embarkation tax. - CAASL has kept the Ministry of Finance informed through the line Ministry. - Bank guarantees of several defaulting airlines were encashed to recover part of the dues. - Pursuant to a Board decision, final reminders were issued on 20 May 2024 requesting settlement within seven days. - CAASL sought the Attorney-General’s advice on legal action; AG has advised that the Civil Aviation Act contains no provisions to recover such levies, and since relevant provisions were removed during 2003 amendments, the Finance Act No. 25 of 2003 also lacks provisions. Accordingly, CAASL is working with the Department of State Finance Policy to reintroduce provisions to the Finance Act; a Cabinet Memorandum has been prepared. - For AASL receivables (parking, aerobridge, rent, utilities, etc.), recovery proceeds under security deposit terms. As a policy decision applicable to a State entity, AASL has not taken any security deposit from SriLankan Airlines. Regular reminders are issued with updated statements, and CAASL is in periodic coordination with AASL for long-outstanding amounts. Several major cases have been referred to Legal for necessary action.

¶ 14 (b) Not applicable.

Provenance

Source: Hansard, Tuesday, 22 July 2025 ·No. 1753443916033328 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Janitha Ruwan Kodithuwakku - Deputy Minister of Ports and Civil Aviation. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 22 July 2025. No. 1753443916033328. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/13637