SriLankan to operate daily flights to China from July 15

Sri Lankan Airlines will operate daily flights to China from July 15. This will increase the present frequency per week to 18 covering three destinations in China SriLankan Airline Chairman, Nishantha Wickramasinghe told Daily News yesterday.

He said that China is a key market to the airline since over 53 million passengers travel each year.

Chairman SriLankan Airlines, Nishantha Wickramasinghe, Regional Manager Asia Pacific, Dimuthu Tennakoon, Minister Consellor Sri Lanka Embassy in China K. A. Vimalentharajah and stewardesses in China. Picture by Shirjaiv Sirimane

“With additional frequency we can get more passengers/travellers to use our airline,” he said. “We believe there is tremendous potential in this market,” he said. He said that both China and Sri Lanka are developing fast and more air links would further help to have closer ties with the two economies.

The Chairman said, SriLankan gives the best connections to both India and the Maldives and this is a major advantage for the airline when it comes to the Chinese market. The airline now flies daily to both Shanghai and Beijing and four times a week to Guangzhou. These flights operate with a stopover in Bangkok and when the market matures there would be direct flights to China. He said that joining Oneworld and also launching direct flights to China were two of his dreams that has now come true.

He said that they are looking at adding more destinations and by 2015 the airline would have 23 air crafts which would be nearly new. SriLankan airlines carried 3.5 million passengers last year. He said that with the opening of the second international airport in Hambantota the airline would have more aircraft in place. “Our aim is to make Sri Lanka a global aviation hub and take the country closer to be the wonder of Asia,” he added. Sri Lanka was also invited to join the elite oneworld group giving tremendous value to the airline.

Oneworldis one of the world's three largest global airline alliances with its central management team, based in New York City, New York, USA. Oneworld was founded in 1999 by American Airlines, British Airways, Canadian Airlines, Cathay Pacific, and Qantas. The Oneworld has over 900 flights taking off each day and Sri Lanka’s passengers could purchase tickets to this.