SriLankan Airlines to break even by March 2017

State-run carrier SriLankan Airlines is planning to break even by March 2017, after running about 335 million US dollars of losses in the intervening years, an official said.

The national carrier is buying 13 new aircraft from Airbus which will be more fuel efficient saving costs and will also upgrade the product allowing better prices and yield, chief executive of the airline, Kapila Chandrasena said.

The first of six A330-600s will arrive in October 2014 resulting in 6-8 percent in fuel savings. From 2017, the first of A350-900s will arrive with more fuel savings of 12 to 15 percent, he said. The firm was keeping fuel prices forecasted at 337 US cents a gallon.

Chandrasena said it was a worst-case scenario as projections were for fuel prices to ease. Global commodity prices including oil, base metals, precious metals and food rose sharply until 2008 due to Federal Reserve money printing which debased the US dollar, and fell when credit collapsed and the monetary policy-fired bubble lost traction.