Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana said that the SLAF earned US$ 6 million in 2021 by deploying an aviation unit and troops for UN missions.
He said that all the foreign exchange earnings had been handed over to the Treasury and the total amount handed over to the Treasury by the SLAF since 2014 was US$110 million.
The Air Force commander was speaking to the media on the 71st anniversary celebrations of the SLAF which falls on March 2, 2022.
Air Marshal Pathirana said that in addition to the foreign exchange earned, the SLAF was saving the nation millions of dollars by carrying out maintenance of its fleet including the complete overhaul of Chinese manufactured aircraft and heavy maintenance of American manufactured aircraft locally.
He reiterated that as foreign exchange was scarce now, the SLAF was deploying its aircraft sparsely and only for the most essential missions.