A SriLankan Airlines Airbus A330-300 has been forced to stay on the ground after the sighting of a rat on board during a flight from Pakistan to Sri Lanka. Not only the search for the rodent but also an inspection for potential damages caused the aircraft to stay on the ground for 3 days.
The incident took place on a flight between Lahore Allama Iqbal International Airport (LHE) and Colombo Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) on 22 February. After the rat sighting, the plane had to be treated with a chemical, according to Ashok Pathirage, SriLankan Airlines chairman. Once the rat was found dead, a technical inspection took place, making sure the rodent had not caused any damage to the aircraft and thus the plane was safe to fly.
Even though Pathirage said the aircraft was only grounded for one day, an anonymous airline official told something else to AFP. “The aircraft was grounded for three days at Colombo. The plane could not be flown without making sure that the rat was accounted for. It was found dead”, the source said.
“SriLankan Airlines would like to clarify that the delays experienced by its passengers at the check-in counters in Bandaranaike International Airport during the early hours of this morning were caused by temporary, unplanned operational conditions at the airport and not due to any type of trade union action. SriLankan Airlines would like to apologise to any passengers inconvenienced by these operational delays, while the airline continues to monitor the situation and take steps to avoid a recurrence”, SriLankan Airlines said in a statement regarding other delayed flights on Sunday, 25 February
The incident comes at a difficult timing for SriLankan Airlines. The state-owned carrier has been in difficulties for quite some time and had accumulated losses of more than 1.8 billion dollars at the end of March 2023. Previous attempts to sell the airline remained unsuccesful, even when a former government offered it for a symbolic 1 dollar. Not surprisingly, Sri Lanka’s aviation minister Nimal Siripala de Silva told reporters the rat incident might scare off “the few investors” that could still be interested in taking over the airline.
