The newly appointed Government of Sri Lanka has recently revealed plans to merge the operations of its two state-owned airlines, SriLankan Airlines and Mihin Lanka. Both airlines, which continue to be operated as individual entities, have recorded consecutive years of ailing financial performance. With SriLankan operating as a full-service International carrier and Mihin Lanka operating as a regional Low-Cost Hybrid Carrier, the airlines had failed to generate any significant success in their respective markets while they were operating as separate entities. A merger of the two operators is expected to generate significant operational efficiencies and reduce their overheads. No formal merger date has yet been set.

The French civil aviation regulator, the DGAC, has issued an official warning to French-based airlines citing the increase in risk of operating over Pakistani airspace. The regulator noted that the deteriorating security situation and increasing prevalence of terrorist activity within Pakistan has corresponded to increased risk to commercial operations over the region. The DGAC has advised airlines to avoid operating below an altitude of 24,000ft due to the increase in perceived risk of militant activity in the region.

The Russian civil aviation regulator, Rosaviatsia, has withdrawn the Air Operators Certificate’s (AOC’s) of three Russian-based airlines, including Polet, Russian Sky Airlines and Air Samara. Rosaviatsia suspended the airlines’ AOC’s based on their recent ailing financial performance and a series of current and prospective operational concerns. The financial concerns were largely based on the deteriorating economic environment within Russia and the respective airlines’ ability to maintain profitability in this climate given their current performance.
Additionally, Rosaviatsia also cited that Air Samara had violated a number of regulatory requirements pertaining to the monitoring of flight operations, which further prompted the suspension of the airline’s AOC.