Xian Y-20 heavy lift transport aircraft. (Photo : PLAAF)
Sri Lanka plans to initially acquire two Chinese-made Xian Y-20 heavy lift transport aircraft as a prelude to establishing a new domestic airline company to be run by the Sri Lanka Air Force.
The massive Y-20, which only entered service with the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) in June, is Asia's largest transport aircraft. Nicknamed "Chubby Girl," the Y-20 can loft 40 short tons of cargo 7,800 km and 73 short tons 4,500 km.
The People's Liberation Army plans to order up to 1,000 Y-20s for use by the army, navy and air force.
A recent report said the Sri Lankan government is going to ask the Sri Lanka Air Force to operate a domestic airline. Despite a multitude of airports and airfields (many dating back to World War II when Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) was a hub of the British Empire's military effort in Asia) no Sri Lankan government has seriously tried to develop a domestic airline industry.
Road travel is the preferred means of transportation in Sri Lanka, which is one huge island with a size of 66,000 square kilometers and a population of 20 million. The air travel distance from Jaffna in the north to Galle in the south is only 402 kilometers.
Sri Lankan media said the government is interested in dual-use transport aircraft that can both ferry civilian passengers, as well as soldiers, their weapons and equipment.
Sri Lanka plans to request the Xian Aircraft Corporation, maker of the Y-20, to transform its Y-20s into dual-use aircraft. These aircraft might also be operated by the Sri Lanka Air Force as part of a civilian airline company.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe announced the plan to buy the Y-20s from China.
"I have travelled around in some of the Chinese transport planes we have. They are good workhorses," he said.
"Some people have raised questions about their quality but I have always said, 'Look, as far as I am concerned, I will always underwrite Chinese military transport planes'. We will buy two more."
