China an "aspiring market" for Sri Lankan national airline: minister

Sri Lanka's national carrier, Sri Lankan Airlines, will continue operations of all its Chinese routes as China is an "aspiring market", a government minister told Xinhua on Thursday.

Despite the loss-making carrier cutting its routes to many major cities in order to avoid further losses, the minister, who wished to remain unnamed said that the airline would in the future look to expand its operation to China.

"The Chinese route is doing extremely well and China is an aspiring market for us. Sri Lanka Airlines will not suspended its operation to any of those routes," the minister said.

The airline is currently facing an estimated loss of 3 billion U.S. dollars and has sought an international investor to manage its operations.

In April, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that the state would pay part of its debts in order to seek for an international investor.

The airline recently in a statement said it will be suspending its operations to Paris and Frankfurt, from winter 2016 to avoid losses amid stiff competition from Middle Eastern carriers which have reduced air fares.

"The government of Sri Lanka has made it clear that it will no longer fund continuing losses," the airline said in a statement.

The airline's route network is being continuously evaluated in the context of changing market dynamics in order to maximize earnings on sustainable routes which would bring in more contribution towards the bottom line, the statement added.

China has become an emerging market for Sri Lanka with a large number of Chinese tourists visiting the island nation.

China is second largest source of tourists to Sri Lanka, and the government said that it will continue promotional campaigns in many major Chinese cities in order to attract more visitors. Endit