SriLankan Airlines (UL, Colombo International) has entered into negotiations to lease Turkish Airlines (TK, Istanbul Airport) three of its four A350-900s on order from Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac).
According to Sri Lanka's Business Times newspaper, government officials close to the talks say a deal is close at hand. As previously reported, the fourth jet has already been sold to an undisclosed lessor.
Three A350 airframes - cn 52, 55, and 60 - that SriLankan was scheduled to have leased from AerCap have already been completed and are currently awaiting fitment of their Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-84 powerplants and interiors. As such, SriLankan was to have taken delivery of cn 52 in July with cn 55 and 60 to have followed during the last quarter of the year. Images of cn 52 seen by ch-aviation show SriLankan's logo has now been removed from its fuselage.
SriLankan management says the aircraft no longer fit their business model which has shifted focus from longhaul to regional operations in recent months.
