Sri Lanka to introduce a new domestic airline by March 2017 according to new budget proposals.

“This airline will be on a public private partnership agreement, which will include the Sri Lanka Air Force, the hotel industry, travel agents and other private sector stakeholders,” Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake, said during his budget 2017 speech in Parliament on yesterday.

It is proposed to allocate 50 million rupees as the initial government contribution for this project. There is potential for the country to position itself as an aviation hub, he said. In this regard, Minister Karunanayake says the flying training industry has shown signs of being a growing industry.