SriLankan Airlines has announced strategic partnerships with Saudi Arabian carriers Saudia and Flynas, expanding access for passengers travelling between Sri Lanka and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Daily Mirror reported.
Under the arrangements, Saudia will provide access to seven international and 13 domestic destinations, while Flynas will add eight international and six domestic destinations. Saudia’s network includes onward international links from Amman, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Cairo, Dubai, Kuwait City and Los Angeles, plus domestic Saudi cities such as Jeddah, Abha, Madinah and Tabuk. Flynas adds onward international services from Addis Ababa, Karachi, Giza, Tashkent and Sohag, alongside domestic routes serving Jizan, Najran, Dammam and Jeddah.
The new arrangements allow passengers travelling from various locations across Saudi Arabia to connect through Riyadh and Dammam to SriLankan Airlines’ daily flights to Colombo. Travellers will also gain onward access to destinations across the airline’s wider international network. SriLankan currently operates daily services from both Riyadh and Dammam to Colombo, serving business, leisure and visiting-friends-and-relatives travel between the two countries.
“Working together with Saudia and Flynas enables us to offer customers smoother connections from multiple regional and international destinations into Sri Lanka and beyond,” Head of Commercial Dimuthu Tennakoon said. SriLankan’s Manager for Saudi Arabia Thusitha Wickramasinghe said the collaboration would provide passengers with greater convenience, expanded travel choices and seamless journeys across the combined networks of the three airlines.
SriLankan Airlines currently connects passengers to 131 destinations across 63 countries through its own operations and codeshare partnerships, while operating direct services to 34 destinations worldwide. Its network covers Europe, Australia, the Middle East, the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia and the Far East. The airline operates an all-Airbus fleet comprising A330-200, A330-300 and A320/A321 aircraft.
The Saudi deal is the second major commercial announcement from the carrier in recent weeks, following confirmation of a permanent chairman in Sarath Arandara and a continued search for a new CEO. It also overlaps with the carrier’s ongoing Rs.91bn debt restructuring and live discussions of a Rs.10bn public-private partnership model.
