A two-day hunt for a rat in an aircraft and other technical issues were cited by SriLankan Airlines for its severe delays last Saturday.
SriLankan Airlines Chairman Ashok Pathirage said that a rat that ‘boarded’ the Lahore–Colombo flight was a major issue and the aircraft had to be grounded for more than two days until the rat was found and disposed of.
He said that they even contacted aircraft manufacturer Airbus and sought its advice and was told to spray chemicals and keep it grounded for two days. After a passenger detected the rat, the staff had also kept several rat traps to catch the rodent.
“Having a rat onboard an aircraft is a major risk as the rat could bite wires which may even cause a major airline disaster, so we had to be sure that the flight was taking off minus the rat,” he said.
addition to this matter, another flight was grounded due to an engine issue. “After the Covid-19 pandemic, all airlines face this issue due to high demand. Since SriLankan has only 16 aircraft, losing two caused major delays,” he said.
The Chairman also said that they will investigate if there were any staff issues at the counters and take necessary action.
The airline issuing a media statement on Sunday said: “SriLankan Airlines would like to apologize to any passengers inconvenienced by these operational delays, while the airline continues to monitor the situation and take steps to avoid a recurrence.”
