Qatar Airways in code-share deal with SriLankan

Qatar Airways and SriLankan Airlines, both members of the oneworld alliance, have strengthened their co-operation with a bilateral code-share relationship.

Both airlines will code-share on each other’s flights between their respective hubs – Qatar Airways’ thrice daily Airbus A340-600 operations to Colombo and SriLankan Airlines’ daily Airbus A330-300 flight to Doha. The combination of four daily flights between Doha and Colombo will offer customers additional convenience and flexibility.

Passengers travelling to Colombo on Qatar Airways now have additional connectivity to the holiday hotspot of Male in the Maldives. SriLankan Airlines passengers can also now transit through Doha’s Hamad International Airport and travel onwards, subject to government approvals, to 20 leisure and business destinations including Amsterdam, Barcelona, Paris, Copenhagen, Moscow, Rome, Frankfurt, Geneva, Manchester, Milan, Oslo, Sofia, Stockholm, Vienna, Zurich, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Bahrain and Cape Town.

Travellers will also be able to accrue frequent flyer miles as well as other oneworld privileges such as access to spacious lounges, extra baggage allowances, priority check-in and boarding, fast track security lanes and special fares across both carriers’ networks.

His Excellency Akbar Al Baker, Qatar Airways group chief executive, said: “Qatar Airways is pleased to have reached a code-sharing agreement with an established oneworld carrier like SriLankan Airlines, which will deepen commercial cooperation and jointly strengthen our competitive offering in the market.

“This new partnership will allow passengers to enjoy the seamless connectivity that Qatar Airways offers via Doha to our wide network across the globe.”

Captain Suren Ratwatte, chief executive officer of SriLankan Airlines, said: “It is our pleasure to seal a codeshare partnership with Qatar Airways to allow our passengers the flexibility and convenience of effective onward connectivity to a number of destinations.

“We are also glad to tie up with another oneworld member in our strategic network expansion drive as we celebrate the second anniversary as an alliance member in May this year.”