Ajith Dias has been appointed as the new Chairman of SriLankan Airlines replacing Nishantha Wickramasinghe.

Dias was a Director of Brandix and was the former Chairman of the Free Trade Zone Manufacturers Association (FTZMA), a member of the Textile Quota Board and a member of the National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC).

He is a also Chartered Textile Technologist & a Fellow of the Textile Institute of UK.

Nishantha Wickramasinghe, the brother in law of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa,  was under severe criticism from the opposition over the colossal financial losses the national airline incurred, under his watch.

JVP Leader and Parliamentarian Anura Kumara openly stated that the former Chairman of Srilankan Airlines had not even passed his GCE O/level examination. Wickramasinghe never challenged the JVP Parliamentarian's statement.