Hon. (Dr.) Harshana Suriyapperuma - Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning

¶ 01 Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, I table the answer.

¶ 02 Answer tabled:

¶ 03 (a)(i) The numbers of delays and cancellations in each month from 01.01.2024 to 12.2024 are as follows (summary): - Cancellations per month ranged between low single digits and approximately 200 in peak disruption months. - On-time performance for departures within 30 minutes ranged between 67% and 85% across months. - Delays beyond 15 and 30 minutes are recorded month-wise.

¶ 04 (ii) Additional costs incurred: month-wise figures are tabled.

¶ 05 (iii) Measures to address delays and cancellations include: - Increasing ground time buffers at selected airports to minimize knock-on delays. - Adjusting schedules according to specific airport operational constraints. - Allocating dedicated maintenance windows to carry out maintenance with minimal schedule impact. - Strengthening coordination between scheduling and engineering teams to ensure efficient maintenance with minimal network impact. - Maintaining an additional standby aircraft to mitigate operational disruptions and protect connections for transit passengers; assessing transit volumes before deciding on delays. - Consolidating flights on low-demand sectors and canceling/selectively adjusting flights with minimal passenger impact to optimize aircraft utilization. - Increasing spare parts holdings, entering long-term agreements for critical spares, and joining pooling agreements. - Procuring aircraft fault monitoring software and initiating discussions for implementation; enhancing preventative maintenance to avoid recurring defects. - Continuous training and skills enhancement for operations and technical staff; bolstering “fix teams” capacity.

¶ 06 (b) Does not arise.