SriLankan Airlines operates an all-Airbus fleet, comprising narrow-body (A320-200 and A321-200) and wide-body (A330-200 and A330-300) aircraft.
Contents
Current fleet
As of February 2017, the SriLankan Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:
Fleet development
The airline received its first Airbus aircraft in 1992, the Airbus A320-200 (reg:4R-ABA) began flying to the airline's regional routes in Maldives, Pakistan and southern India. The Airbus A340-300 aircraft were ordered during the time of President Premadasa, the first A340 was delivered in 1994. The airline was the first in Asia to use the A340, the aircraft are used in high density flights to Middle East, Southeast Asia and Europe. The Airbus A330-200 aircraft were delivered during the rule of President Chandrika, the aircraft are used in flights to Europe and Southeast Asia.
SriLankan Airlines aimed to boost its fleet to 35 aircraft over the next five years, and had talks with both Airbus and Boeing regarding a deal that may consist of up to nine long-haul aircraft. It has also leased four additional Airbus A320 aircraft. SriLankan's former CEO Kapila Chandrasena stated that the carrier wants to add either Airbus A330-300 or Boeing 777 aircraft to its fleet to replace its Airbus A340-300s, with deliveries beginning in 2013–2014. Selected aircraft have also been refurbished to incorporate flat bed seating in business class and an enhanced Inflight Entertainment system.
In April 2013, it was announced that SriLankan Airlines had won government approval to acquire four Airbus A350-900 and seven A330-300 aircraft, with deliveries of the A330-300 starting from October 2014. Deliveries for the ordered A350-900 is set to commence in 2019. A further three Airbus A350-900s will be leased, with deliveries of these aircraft starting in 2017.
SriLankan phased out their last Airbus A340-300 on 7 January 2016 with its last scheduled flight from Chennai to Colombo, which were replaced with the A330-300 and the future A350-900. As of January 2016, construction of the airline's first Airbus A350-900 has started. On 23 February 2015, SriLankan Airlines finalized a deal with Air Lease Corporation and AerCap to acquire 2 Airbus A321neo aircraft, one from each leasing firm.
On 10 May 2016, the SriLankan Airlines announced it will sell four new Airbus A350s (that were to be leased), two weeks after cancelling an order for four other A350 aircraft due to financial difficulties.