SriLankan Airlines to join Oneworld
Monday, 11 June 2012 21:28
Aviation News - International News
SriLankan Airlines (UL) has been elected as a oneworld member, the alliance announced just prior to the opening of IATA's 2012 World Air Transport Summit in Beijing. UL is expected to join oneworld late next year.
Srilankan Airlines Airbus A330-243 4R-ALB
UL chairman Nishantha Wickremasinghe said the airline has “virtually doubled our size since peace returned to our country three years ago and we plan further substantial expansion to our fleet and network in the next few years.”
UL also announced it will codeshare with oneworld partners Royal Jordanian and S7 Airlines.
UL operates a fleet of 21 aircraft and carried 3.5 million passengers last year between its Colombo base and 34 destinations in 22 countries across Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
According to oneworld, UL will bring three new destinations into the alliance’s network, all in southern India—Kochi, Tiruchirapalli and Thiruvananthapuram, expanding oneworld's global coverage to some 850 destinations in more than 150 countries and generating annual revenues of more than $100 billion.
American Airlines CEO and oneworld chairman Tom Horton said that Malaysia Airlines “is on the right track to join the alliance later this year”(ATW/AC)
