Qatar Airways enters into new codeshare agreement with Srilankan Airlines

Tuesday, 7 June 2016 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Qatar Airways (QR) and SriLankan Airlines (UL), both members of the oneworld alliance, have strengthened their cooperation with a bilateral codeshare relationship.

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

For the first time, passengers travelling to Colombo on Qatar Airways will be able to connect to the popular holiday hotspot Male, in the Maldives. Beyond Doha, SriLankan Airlines passengers can transit through Doha’s Hamad International Airport and travel onwards to 20 exciting leisure and business destinations (subject to regulatory approvals) in Europe, USA, Middle East and Africa, 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 benefit from accruing frequent flyer miles, together with 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.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker 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.”

SriLankan Airlines Chief Executive Officer Captain Suren Ratwatte 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 celebrated the second anniversary as an alliance member in May this year.”

Daily Doha (DOH) – Colombo (CMB) schedule:

QR 664 departs DOH at 02:15 hrs; arrives CMB at 09:25 hrs

QR 665 departs CMB at 10:50 hrs; arrives DOH at 13:05 hrs

QR 656 departs DOH at 08:10 hrs; arrives CMB at 15:20 hrs

QR 657 departs CMB at 21:20 hrs; arrives DOH at 23:35 hrs

QR 668 departs DOH at 18:50 hrs; arrives CMB at 02:00+1 hrs

QR 669 departs CMB at 03:25 hrs; arrives DOH at 05:40 hrs

UL 218 departs DOH at 22:30 hrs; arrives CMB at 05:55 hrs +1

UL 217 departs CMB at 18:45 hrs; arrives DOH at 21:15 hrs