In a statement issued on Saturday, the Sri Lankan flag carrier said that the fraud was carried out by altering invoices, payment details and signatures.

"With regard to the misappropriation of funds at SriLankan Airlines' office in Chennai, the airline wishes to inform that a few employees, all Indian nationals working in the finance department in Chennai, are alleged to have misappropriated a total of Rs 22 million over a period of time by fraudulently altering invoices, payment details and signatures," it said.

The airline did not specify the duration of the misappropriation. It said that Indian law enforcement has been contacted and that investigations are ongoing to recover the losses.

It also referred to a separate incident of an erroneous payment made to a service provider in the UAE due to a compromised email account.