Kabir Hashim, Minister of Public Enterprise Development stated that Sri Lankan Airlines started incurring losses during the previous tenure of the United People’s Freedom Alliance led government.

He made this statement while addressing Parliament during the Committee Stage Debate yesterday. Minister Hashim further stated that Sri Lankan Airlines earned a profit of 4.4 billion rupees when it was run by Emirates in the year 2008.

The Minister said the agreement with Emirates was discarded by Former President MP Mahinda Rajapaksa based on personal reasons and a loss of 9.3 billion rupees was incurred by Sri Lankan Airlines in 2009 due to the decision taken by the Former President.