State-owned, loss-making SriLankan Airlines will recruit foreign pilots if the need arises, its Chief Executive Officer said, as the national carrier has suffered an exodus of pilots last year following an unprecedented economic crisis.
The COVID-19 pandemic, followed by an economic crisis, hit the airline hard as it was deprived of the usual near full capacity flights amid a sharp fall in tourist arrivals to the island nation.
Nearly 60 pilots have left SriLankan Airlines in the last 12 months and the national carrier has recruited a number of new cadet pilots to face the shortage, SriLankan officials said.
