Authorities of Sri Lankan Aviation will be taking action to lower the costs of fuel, embarkation and ground
handling over the course of six months from August 1.
Chairman of SLDTA, Johanne
Jayaratne expressed that the results will be dire on the Sri Lankan tourism, due
to the reduction of these costs, which is recovering at a slower pace
initially.
Jayaratne said, "The frequency of flights is controlled by these
taxes so hopefully it will have an impact on the number of flights arriving
into the country once these are reduced."
In Sri Lanka, the fuel,
embarkation and ground handling require the highest costs in the region at the
present.
A media release was issued
by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) stating the measures they have taken to
lower the costs to facilitate cheaper airfares to tourists. For the measures,
Sri Lankan Airlines have been asked to reduce its ground handling charges, in
addition to the request of CAA to Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) to sell
aviation fuel at cost.
Chairman
of SLTPB, Kishu Gomes stated that from may onward there has been a 70 per cent month on month recovery. Sri Lanka
Tourism forecasts Julys arrival numbers at 117,000 and is anticipating a total of
1.9 2 million tourist arrivals in 2019.
The Treasury has also been instructed to delay the
implementation of the budget proposal to increase the embarkation levy by
US$10, the statement read.
Please login to Comment