SriLankan Airlines boosts partnerships

Part owned by Emirates, the Sri Lankan national carrier has been fine-tuning its network with recent growth on international, regional and domestic routes, but is now looking to capitalise on the intrinsic value of its financial and management links to the Dubai-based airline.

"While most people know that both Emirates and SriLankan operate services between Colombo and Dubai, and codeshare on many of these, it's a little known fact that we also work together on routes to Germany, for instance, as well as Singapore and Jakarta in south-east Asia, and Male in the Maldives," said Hill.

"We have not marketed these links before and now is the time to capitalise on the strengths of our partnership - where we offer similar aircraft, seating, levels of entertainment and inflight facilities."

One key point that SriLankan management is keen to emphasise is that tickets on codeshare flights are fully inter-changeable, a practical option for those travellers who need to alter their departure dates at short notice.

"Passengers do not have to have their tickets endorsed if they change from one codeshare flight to another - in this sense, the synergy between SriLankan and Emirates becomes a real benefit for passengers on both carriers," stressed Hill.

SriLankan Airlines also recently signed a codeshare agreement with British Midland, offering passengers through ticketing to regional airports in the UK as well as other points in northern Europe.

"While we see no need for participation in one of the global airline alliances, there are opportunities to extend our reach through carefully chosen partners who offer routes that may be of interest to our customer base - but which would not be economic for us to operate.
"Along with continued expansion of our codeshare operations with Emirates - and the extension of the joint Skywards loyalty programme - we can achieve our medium-term aims through this balance of strategic growth," Hill concluded.

SriLankan Airlines has received a string of world aviation accolades recently, including World's Friendliest Cabin Staff, Best Overall Inflight Entertainment (for a fleet size of 20 or less), and first runner-up for the World's Best Cabin Staff.