President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was cited as being the major force in the SriLankan Airlines rescue mission to bring back Sri Lankans stranded in Wuhan in the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak. SriLankan Airlines held a press conference on February 3 at the Hilton Colombo to thank all those involved in the mercy mission.
SriLankan Airlines Acting Chief Officer Service Delivery, Capt. Rajind Ranatunga said “this mercy mission we undertook to bring home our own children from the epicentre of the coronavirus took place under the directive of the President.”
“Once we took charge of this the initial task was to get clearance. I thank the government of China for giving us clearance in this difficult time for that country. Everyone was requesting clearance but they gave us clearance.”
“I would like to thank Foreign Affairs Secretary Ravinatha Aryasinha and Chargé D’Affaires to China K.K. Yoganaadan.”
He thanked other individuals involved in administrative and international co-ordination for the rescue mission. Multiple clearances were required for the flight.
Ranatunga added “All these people who went on this flight were volunteers. Captain Chaminda Zoysa and Anushka Jeewantha have children of their own. I salute you.”
The engineering staff had to get off the aircraft in order to do maintenance. Ranatunga said, “all of this was done in the name of bringing our own back to the country.”
Ranatunga added “The final briefing was reminiscent of any final war attempt. If you are wondering how we protected them we gave them ebola kits.”
Leaders of the rescue mission called on the media to currently focus on the mercy mission. The crew landed at Mattala airport on the return flight. The passengers were then taken by the Airforce to Diyatalawa to be monitored. Training and support were provided by the Armed Forces.
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