They said the prequalification deadline to buy a majority stake in the national carrier has been extended (until March 5, 2024) for the fourth time consequent to six recent flight delays and three cancellations due to technical issues and a rat found in a plane resulted in grounding it for three days.

The divestiture is planned to be completed through a two-stage competitive bidding process; RFQ (Request for Qualification) and RFP (Request for Proposals) for the Proposed Transaction.

Finding a prospective investor has now become bleak as a result of poor status of the airline with depleting fleet and recent negative publicity and complaints by angry passengers, a senior official said

Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation, Nimal Siripala De Silva said that managing the national carrier as a joint venture is the solution as SriLankan was in total debt up to US$ 1.8 billion