SriLankan goes daily to Beijing, Shanghai from mid-July

• Fresh push to woo Chinese tourists and tap greater share of two-way traffic, including to Maldives
• Upgrade brings total flights to four cities in China including Hong Kong to 21 per week

By Nisthar Cassim

in Beijing, China

In a fresh push to woo more Chinese tourists as well as cater to growing two-way traffic, SriLankan Airlines on Tuesday announced the launch of daily flights to Beijing and Shanghai from mid-next month.

The announcement was made to Chinese media via a press conference at Kempinski Hotel, Beijing, and separately to travel agents and tour operators.

The daily frequency will bring the total number of flights operated by SriLankan to China including Hong Kong to 21.

Expansion of services to China comes hot on the heels of SriLankan on Monday announcing a mega move to join the major airline alliance oneworld from next year. Both announcements were timed when global aviation industry body IATA’s annual summit was taking place in Beijing with 750 delegates and 300 international journalists in attendance.

At present via Bangkok SriLankan flies three times a week to Beijing, its first point in China which began in 2005, and four times a week to the popular commercial hub Shanghai, added in 2010 to the national carrier’s network.

“We will expand our services to Beijing and Shanghai from 15 July with daily flights and serve the increasing number of Chinese travellers to Colombo, Male,” Bangkok and the other points of our global network,” SriLankan Airlines Chairman Nishantha Wickremasinghe told Chinese media at a briefing in Beijing.

SriLankan also flies four times a week to Guangzhou (Canton) whilst it serves Hong Kong thrice a week.

“SriLankan has made a strong and consistent effort in recent years to enhance services between the historically friendly nations of China and Sri Lanka. We are happy to see the level of growth in business up to now. We believe there is tremendous amount of potential for the future, hence our decision to have daily frequency in Beijing and Shanghai,” Wickremasinghe added.

Srilankan Airlines Regional Manager Asia Pacific Dimuthu Tennakoon said: “The new daily frequencies serving Beijing and Shanghai will further enhance our services for Chinese tourists to Bangkok, Colombo and Male, which are the most popular destinations of Chinese travellers on SriLankan.”

“We also have some excellent connections to our destinations in Europe and the Middle East, which offer convenience for travellers from those regions to visit China and vice versa,” he added.

According to Tennakoon, 56 million Chinese are forecast to travel abroad for holidays whilst the number of Chinese travellers to Sri Lanka grew by 56% in 2011 to over 16,000. In the first five months of this year there had been 8,400 Chinese tourists up by 12% over the corresponding period of last year.

China now accounts for the biggest source market for the Maldives, displacing the traditional European holidaymakers. SriLankan Airlines is the biggest international operator to the Maldives.

National carrier’s Chief Wickremasinghe also told Chinese media that relations between the two countries have been strengthened with an increasingly level of Chinese investment into Sri Lanka, together with expanded trade in consumer goods.

SriLankan is currently completing the transformation of its long-haul Airbus A330 and A340 aircraft which serve China’s cities, installing luxurious Flat Bed Seating in Business Class and sophisticated Audio Video On Demand (AVOD) entertainment systems in all passenger cabins.

The new flights to Shanghai will operate on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, in addition to the four existing flights on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

SriLankan currently operates a fleet of 21 aircraft over a global route network of 60 cities and Chairman Wickremasinghe said efforts were underway to expand the number of airlines as well as destinations over the next few years. “We hope to have a fleet of 30 aircrafts soon,” he added.

The Chairman also listed the eight themes of Sri Lanka tourism and emphasised the Chinese would find a holiday in Sri Lanka most stimulating. He said that in tandem with rebound in tourism following the end of conflict, more world and star class hotels are being built in addition to an upgrade in infrastructure including a new airport in Mattala.

On Monday SriLankan said joining oneworld enables its members to offer their customers more services and benefits than any airline can provide on its own. These include a broader route network, opportunities to earn and redeem frequent flyer miles and points across the combined oneworld network and more airport lounges oneworld also offers more alliance fares than any of its competitors.

Comprising 12 of the world’s best and popular airlines, oneworld is the current holder of more international awards for airline alliances than any of its competitors.  Members include American Airlines, British Airways, Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Finnair, Iberia, Air Berlin, LAN, Royal Jordanian and Russia’s S7 Airlines and around 20 affiliates. Malaysian Airlines will be joining later this year.

When SriLankan becomes part of oneworld, its customers will gain access to this truly global network. The alliance partners serve 850 destinations in over 150 countries with a combined fleet of almost 2,500 aircraft operating some 9,000 flights and carrying a million passengers daily, generating annual revenues of over $ 100 billion.

The 120 million frequent flyer cardholders of oneworld’s established airlines will be able to earn and redeem rewards when flying on SriLankan. The deal will also give SriLankan Airlines frequent flyers especially FlySmiles cardholders, now over 200,000, access to 550 plus airport lounges and its network will be covered by oneworld’s market leading range of alliance fares.