SriLankan Airlines (UL, Colombo International) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Suren Ratwatte says his airline is planning to review an existing widebody order with Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) to incorporate more suitable narrowbody jets instead.

“However we must re-look at the aircraft order since the order is for wide-bodied aircraft that could carry more passengers," he told Sri Lanka's Daily News. "What SriLankan currently needs is narrow-bodied aircraft, that could be easily filled with passengers.”

The state-backed carrier inked a firm order agreement with Airbus for four A350-900s and six A330-300s in 2013. The deal, however, is now subject to a government inquiry after Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe claimed there had been irregularities in its flotation.

As part of its Red-to-Black restructuring programme, SriLankan is expected to shift focus away from longhaul operations in Europe and Australia and focus instead on the growing Chinese and Indian markets. SriLankan uses its existing fleet of six A320-200s and two A321-200s on flights to India, Thailand, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Pakistan, and the Maldives.

SriLankan's new management is also in the process of developing ancillary revenue streams with Ratwatte confirming plans to partner an undisclosed Asian carrier in the establishment of an MRO centre at the largely underutilized white-elephant airport of Hambantota. During the same interview, Ratwatte said original plans to partner Lufthansa Technik had fallen through after the latter chose to develop its Asian MRO hub in Manila Ninoy Aquino International.