On August 27, 2019 Ambassador of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to the Russian Federation H.E. Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka attended MAKS 2019, the International Aviation and Space Salon, which was officially opened by the Russian President Vladimir Putin in Zhukovsky, Moscow Region. This year the Air Show was also attended and addressed by the President of the Republic of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. More than 1000 exhibitors from about 30 countries participated in the Forum.

 The Opening Ceremony was followed by flight demonstrations including combat scout Ka-52 Alligator helicopter, MIG-35 and the Su-57 fighter of the fifth generation, which was also on static display at MAKS for the first time. Among the key events was the premiere of the MC-21 medium-haul passenger jet.

President Putin mentioned earlier that “promising joint projects clearly confirmed the interest of foreign partners in cooperation with Russia”. At MAKS-2019 China was present as the Partner Country, and demonstrated its latest developments in aviation technology.

During the visit to MAKS-2019 Ambassador Jayatilleka was interviewed by Al Jazeera TV Channel on his views of the Aviation Show.