Mar 07, 2014 (LBO) - State-run SriLankan
Airlines said it is on track to join OneWorld, a global alliance of
carriers on May 01, following the successful completion of a review by
its sponsor, Cathay Pacific Airways.
From that 400,000 members of SriLankan's FlySmiles loyalty
program will have access to other airlines in the grouping, the airline
said.
These include Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines and
Qantas in Asia; airberlin, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia and Russia’s
S7 Airlines in Europe and Qatar Airways and Royal Jordanian, from the
Middle East.
American Airlines and, its merger partner US Airways, from North America: LAN TAM from South America as well as more than 30 affiliated airlines.
"With the world airline industry increasingly focused on alliances, joining oneworld will be a significant development for SriLankan Airlines," SriLankan Airlines Chairman NishanthaWickremasinghe said
"Joining the alliance will help put SriLankan more firmly on the global aviation map and vastly improve Sri Lanka’s connections with the rest of the world, with all that means for our country’s vital tourism industry."
FlySmiLes 'Platinum' cardholders will have 'Emerald' status in the oneworld programme. FlySmiLes 'Gold' will be equivalent to oneworld 'Sapphire' and FlySmiLes 'Classic' will be oneworld 'Ruby'.
SriLankan Business Class passengers, FlySmiLes Platinum and Gold members will be able to use any of the more than 600 airport lounges worldwide offered by oneworld member airlines will also be able to use oneworld partner airline lounges.
As part of oneworld, SriLankan will all of its customers seamless connections across a global network serving almost a thousand destinations in more than 150 countries, the airline said.
