Stowaway rat grounds plane for 3 days in Sri Lanka, adding to cash-strapped flag carrier’s woes

The rodent was spotted aboard a SriLankan Airlines flight from the Pakistani city of Lahore, triggering an aircraft-wide search

Colombo’s aviation minister told reporters the errant rodent might scare off ‘the few investors’ interested in taking over the debt-burdened airline

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Officials said the plane had to remain grounded until the rat had been found. It eventually turned up dead. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 3:23pm, 27 Feb 2024Updated: 3:24pm, 27 Feb 2024

Sri Lanka’s national airline on Tuesday blamed a rat for grounding a plane for three days, sparking chaotic delays and fears it will scare off investors for the cash-strapped carrier.

The stowaway rodent was spotted enjoying the SriLankan Airlines Airbus A330 flight from the Pakistani city of Lahore on Thursday, triggering an aircraft search to ensure it had not chewed through critical components.

An airline official said the plane has now resumed flights, but that the grounding had a knock-on effect on the entire schedule.

A SriLankan Airlines Airbus plane. The airline has had three other aircraft grounded for over a year out of a fleet of 23. Photo: Handout

“The aircraft was grounded for three days at Colombo,” an airline official said, declining to be named. “The plane could not be flown without making sure that the rat was accounted for. It was found dead.”

The state-owned airline, which had accumulated losses of more than US$1.8 billion at the end of March 2023, has had three other aircraft grounded for over a year out of a fleet of 23.

The carrier has no foreign exchange to pay for mandatory overhauling of the engines.

Aviation minister Nimal Siripala de Silva told reporters the errant rodent might scare off “the few investors” interested in taking over the debt-burdened airline.