SriLankan entra in Oneworld

[belumosi]

IATA: SriLankan Airlines to join Oneworld

By: MAVIS TOH BEIJING
Oneworld will this morning unveil SriLankan Airlines as its latest member elect during the annual general meeting in Beijing.
Full details will be disclosed by Oneworld chief executive Bruce Ashby and SriLankan Airlines chief executive Kapila Chandrasena during a media event at the AGM today.
The Sri Lankan flag carrier is expected to join the alliance late next year, with Cathay Pacific Airways as its sponsor, guiding it through the implementation process.
The carrier already codeshares with Oneworld member designate Malaysia Airlines, which is itself due to join the alliance this year. It will soon also announce an agreement in principle to codeshare with fellow members Royal Jordanian and S7 Airlines.
"With the world airline industry increasingly focused on alliances, SriLankan has carried out in-depth analysis of the options open to the airline as we enter this latest phase of our development. Oneworld is very clearly the best option for us. Joining the alliance will help put SriLankan more firmly on the global aviation map and vastly improve our connections with the rest of the world," says airline chairman Nishantha Wickremasinghe.
SriLankan will add three new destinations in southern India - Kochi, Tiruchirapalli and Thiruvananthapuram - to Oneworld's network of 850 destinations in 150 countries. It operates 21 aircraft to 34 destinations in 22 countries.
After Air Berlin joined the alliance this year, Oneworld now has 11 active members.

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/iata-srilankan-airlines-to-join-oneworld-372814/


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[SkySurfer]

A mio giudizio, l'apporto di UL a OW sarà veramente marginale, con poche possibilità di sinergie concrete.

 

[EY460]

http://www.centreforaviation.com/an...evival-and-access-to-india-for-oneworld-75733

Interessante articolo sull'entrata di UL in oneworld. Uno dei pochi vantaggi per oneworld e' un maggior accesso all'India, ora che l'entrata di Kingfisher e' molto improbabile e che Jet Airways potrebbe entrare in Star Alliance nel futuro. Lo sponsor di UL sara' CX. L'apporto di UL a oneworld in posti settimanali sara' solo dello 0.4%.

 

[asterix]

SriLankan Airlines will join the Oneworld airline alliance on May 1st, giving Qantas another partner for codeshare flights and its first in the Indian subcontinent.

Platinum members of SriLankan's FlySmiLes frequent flyer program will find their status matched to Oneworld Emerald, with FlySmiLes Gold lining up against Oneworld Sapphire and FlySmiLes Classic as Oneworld Ruby.

Sri Lankan's entry into the Oneworld family will follow the March 31st inauguration of TAM and US Airways.

With its Colombo hub sitting just off the coast of southern India, SriLankan will open up new routes into India for Qantas travellers.

SriLankan has no direct flights to Australia, having closed its Sydney-Colombo route over a decade ago.

However the airline currently codeshares with oneworld sibling Malaysia Airlines on flights from Sydney and Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur with a SriLanklan connection to Colombo.

SriLankan also has two daily flights between Singapore and Colombo, although sadly their 11.20am and 3pm departure times from Singapore don't mesh with Qantas flights into the Lion City.

The airline also has four new A350-900 jets on order.

http://www.ausbt.com.au/srilankan-airlines-to-join-oneworld-on-may-1st

 

[Pelush]

UL é ancora MOLTO legata ad emirates

 

[DusCgn]

il piano quinquennale di UL a ROUTES ASIA in corso in questi giorni in Malesia

ROUTES ASIA: SriLankan Airlines’ Five-Year Plan

Sri Lanka has experienced a tourism boom since its civil war officially ended five years ago. Its flag carrier’s chief executive officer, Kapila Chandrasena, outlined the plan for the next five years to Martin Rivers for our sister publication Routes News.

When Sri Lanka’s 25-year-long civil war ended in May 2009, the government placed tourism at the heart of its economic recovery. This has paid dividends, with visitor numbers almost tripling since the guns fell silent, with 1.27 million tourists last year rediscovering the island’s pristine beaches and wildlife resorts.

Much of the growth has been driven by SriLankan Airlines, which increased its traffic 55 per cent between 2009 and 2013. The loss-making flag carrier is not, however, solely focused on the top line as chief executive officer, Kapila Chandrasena, has also committed to a five-year turnaround plan, and he sees upcoming oneworld alliance membership as the best vehicle for growing sustainably.

“Our task right now is to consolidate and make the routes we serve profitable,” he said. “On the one hand we have to expand our network. On the other hand we need to keep very close control of our cost base, if we are going to at least recover costs and reach break-even.”

SriLankan Airlines last week announced it will officially join oneworld on May 1, 2014, having delayed its entry to allow time for IT integration. The airline already codeshares with three oneworld members – Malaysia Airlines, Royal Jordanian Airlines and Russia’s S7 Airlines – but Chandrasena sees scope for deeper ties, particularly with some of the alliance’s larger members.

“What oneworld brings is it gives us the network reach,” Chandrasena explained. “Right now we are servicing 62 destinations. Overnight it will be close to 800 destinations. There will be more codeshares with our alliance partners.”

At the same time, Chandrasena acknowledged that his future oneworld affiliates will have expectations of their own – “It’s not only about what we can gain from the alliance, but also what we can offer the alliance” – so the business plan also explores new paradigms for developing capital city Colombo as a hub.

SriLankan Airlines’ network focuses heavily on South Asia, with more than 80 weekly flights to eight cities in India, and more than 30 to the Maldives. About 150 weekly flights between eight domestic destinations are also operated by the mainline Airbus fleet plus subsidiary SriLankan Air Taxi’s Cessna Caravans.

The flag carrier’s strong regional foothold is its main offering to oneworld, which Chandrasena said has a “bit of a vacuum” in South Asia. As well as providing 60 per cent of all flights to Sri Lanka, he described the airline as the “de facto main carrier for the Maldives”. But, in order to strengthen its hub-and-spoke model, long-haul traffic flows must now be optimised alongside the carrier’s new partners.

SriLankan Airlines serves five cities in Europe (London, Paris, Frankfurt, Rome and Moscow), and eight in the Far East (Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore). It also has a sizable presence in the Middle East, and operates daily flights to Karachi in Pakistan.

Oneworld members British Airways, airberlin and S7 Airlines will give the carrier a “broader footprint in Europe”, Chandrasena said, enticing more holidaymakers to Sri Lanka. Synchronising schedules to ease the transfer of traffic between affiliates will be the first step. With the immediate focus on non-organic growth, new routes in Europe are largely off the agenda.

“We decided to take capacity expansion up-front in year one and year two of the business plan,” the chief executive noted, referring to the airline’s post-war network growth. “Now is the time for stabilising those routes. What you will see is tweaking of the network, increasing frequencies, and working towards daily flights on all the destinations we serve. Any new destinations are decided on a stand-alone commercial basis,” he reiterates. “In that sense I don’t see much of a change… I think we have the right coverage to feed the rest of Europe.”

Despite the cautious approach, however, Europe remains a critical market for SriLankan Airlines. Some 137,000 British tourists visited Sri Lanka last year, making it the second highest source of tourism behind India. The airline’s 12 weekly flights to London Heathrow account for more than a quarter of its capacity when measured by available seat kilometres.

Further afield, SriLankan Airlines is reviewing its US connections ahead of possible codeshares with oneworld’s American Airlines. Given that the US is located on the opposite side of the globe, “both Atlantic and Pacific” routings are viable for flights, according to the chief executive. The flag carrier currently swaps codes with Etihad Airways westwards and Malaysia Airlines eastwards. It also serves two other oneworld hubs in Asia – Cathay Pacific’s Hong Kong, and Japan Airlines’ Tokyo, which raises the prospect of codeshare revisions or even new fifth-freedom services.

“Certainly Cathay is our sponsor to oneworld, and we are working very closely [with them],” the chief executive hinted. “We see potential synergies because they are very strong in Asia and the US and Canada, and they are servicing Colombo.” He added that Malaysia Airlines also flies to Colombo, with Kuala Lumpur functioning as a springboard for Australia. “We are looking at all 13 members to really leverage the partnerships,” Chandrasena emphasised. “Some networks offer greater opportunity than others.”

While its network planners hammer out the most prudent oneworld arrangements, SriLankan Airlines is also grappling over how best to expand in China. The flag carrier already flies to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong, and is keen to tap into more emerging markets. However, modest origin-and-destination traffic from China to Sri Lanka has until recently necessitated stopovers in Bangkok on all four routes, with Beijing and Shanghai being upgraded to non-stop services in March.

Only one in 10 passengers flying with the carrier from China actually sets foot in Colombo, with most either disembarking in Thailand or continuing on to the Maldives. “Right now we offer Colombo and Malé [the Maldivian capital] for the Chinese. I think this can be scaled up,” Chandrasena began. “China is an enabling market for us. It’s a growing market, and we have a clean sheet approach.”

Attracting more Chinese passengers will again require SriLankan Airlines to develop its hub model. But unlike the regional proposition that benefits oneworld, Chinese travellers are likely to continue their journeys further west to Africa. Chinese enterprises provide more than $30 billion of capital inflows to the continent each year, with annual trade between the two sides ballooning from $10 billion at the turn of the century to about $200 billion in 2012.

“We see major high-volume traffic flows between Asia and Africa, and especially China and Africa, given the Chinese investment in the continent,” Chandrasena explained. For now, efforts to capitalise on this geographical advantage are largely at the “market evaluation and modelling stage”.

SriLankan Airlines has yet to launch any routes to Africa (although low-cost sister carrier Mihin Lanka recently added flights to the Seychelles, off Africa’s east coast). Chandrasena said the priority is ensuring any push into the continent is supported by “commercial realities”.

“It’s not realistic for me to say we’ll serve ten points in Africa,” he conceded. “But, certainly one or two major points. We will look at some type of partnership or alliance within Africa, in order to fan out across the continent.”

Sri Lanka’s President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, made state visits to South Africa and Kenya in late 2013, and “fairly high-level discussions” have also been held with Tanzanian authorities. Sri Lanka may, however, face an uphill struggle in convincing an African partner to collaborate.

Kenya Airways already codeshares with China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines; South African Airways is moving ever closer to Etihad; and Tanzania’s biggest airline, Precision Air, itself part-owned by Kenya Airways, has almost no international routes. “The markets we serve are very competitive, so we have to be very smart in what we do,” Chandrasena said of the wider landscape. “But we are making the right decisions, and the signs so far are encouraging.”

His optimism appears to be matched by shareholder the Sri Lankan government. Colombo has already injected $225 million into the flag carrier over the past two years, and bridging facilities for a further $275 million are now being arranged. Much of the financing is going towards an upcoming fleet renewal. The flag carrier will receive six Airbus A330-300s between October 2014 and the end of 2015, allowing it to replace its existing A340s. Seven A350s will then start arriving in 2017, paving the way for the eventual replacement of its existing A330-200s.

On the narrowbody front, two of the airline’s eight A320s will be replaced with leased A321s in 2014. “The next replacements will be the A321neos,” Chandrasena said, alluding to subsequent long-term orders. Mihin Lanka also operates two A321s and one A320, and will receive two Boeing 737-800s in 2015.

Despite deepening its losses to 21.8 billion rupees ($171 million) in the 2012 fiscal year, SriLankan Airlines’ net margin has improved. The country’s target of attracting 2.5 million tourists by 2016 is ambitious, but will be buoyed by an improving global economy. With oneworld also delivering synergies, the flag carrier is hopeful of entering the black around 2017. That would mark the first time it has been profitable since 2007, when the global financial crisis struck and Sri Lanka’s civil war intensified.

“I’m really optimistic about the future of Sri Lanka. I think it’s going in the right direction,” Chandrasena concluded. “As a national carrier we have to provide the leadership and drive the growth. We are very challenged and encouraged with this opportunity.”

http://www.routesonline.com/news/29...-asia-srilankan-airlinesrsquo-five-year-plan/

 

[flyboy]

SriLankan Airlines joins oneworld


• First carrier from Indian subcontinent to join any global airline alliance
• Completes biggest expansion of world's premier alliance since its launch 15 years ago
• Key government ministers witness unveiling of first SriLankan aircraft in oneworld livery at joining ceremony at Asia's newest airport, Hambantota's Mattala Rajapaksa International
• Bonus miles/points for frequent flyers to celebrate
• New Visit South Asian Sub-Continent pass added to leading range of alliance fares
• SriLankan to code-share with two more oneworld partners – Finnair and S7 Airlines

SriLankan Airlines becomes part of oneworld® from midnight tonight, offering the full range of services and benefits of the world's fastest growing and highest rated global airline alliance.

It becomes the first carrier from the Indian subcontinent to join any of the global airline alliances – and completes oneworld's biggest expansion programme since the alliance was launched 15 years ago.

These landmarks are being celebrated today at a ceremony attended by the key ministers from Sri Lanka's government at South Asia's newest international airport, Hambantota's Mattala Rajapaksa International, serving Sri Lanka's South and East Coasts and Hambantota's sea port.

From midnight, the flag carrier of Sri Lanka will be flying alongside some of the world's leading carriers:
- Asia-Pacific's Cathay Pacific Airways, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines and Australia's Qantas.
- From Europe, airberlin, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia and Russia's S7 Airlines.
- In the Middle East, Qatar Airways – the only one of the Big Three Gulf carriers to be part of any alliance – and Royal Jordanian.
- In North America, American Airlines and its US Airways merger partner.
- In South America LAN Airlines and its partner in LATAM Airlines Group, TAM Airlines.

SriLankan's first flight as part of oneworld will be UL318 departing from Colombo to the Kuala Lumpur hub of oneworld partner Malaysia Airlines at 7.45 am tomorrow (1 May).

The airline's addition to oneworld will bring two new destinations on to the alliance network – Hambantota itself plus India's Tiruchirapalli – along with its Colombo base as a new oneworld hub. With an extensive schedule serving southern India and as the leading international airline serving the Maldives, SriLankan also significantly strengthens oneworld's presence throughout South Asia, one of the world's fastest growing regions for air travel demand.

With SriLankan, oneworld:
- Serves almost 1,000 airports in 150 countries, with 14,250 daily departures.
- Carries more than 500 million passengers a year on a combined fleet of some 3,300 aircraft.
- Generates US$ 140 billion annual revenues.
- Offers more than 600 airport lounges, including many frequently rated the as the world's best.

What it means for frequent flyers and other customers
From 0001 Colombo time tonight, the 300,000 members of SriLankan's FlySmiLes loyalty programme will, in effect, have their frequent flyer privileges extended to whenever they fly on oneworld member airlines – including earning rewards and tier status points plus the ability to redeem rewards for flights throughout the alliance network.

Also from tonight, the 180 million members of the established oneworld airlines' frequent flyer programmes will be able to earn rewards and tier status points and receive all other oneworld benefits when flying on SriLankan and redeem awards on the airline's network.

For full details of what SriLankan's entry into oneworld means to frequent flyers, see separate press release

As part of oneworld, SriLankan will be able to offer all of its customers seamless connections across a global network serving almost 1,000 destinations in more than 150 countries, with first rate connections between the world's leading business centres.

SriLankan is already participating in Global Explorer, the round-the-world fare offered by all oneworld members and various airlines that are not part of the alliance. From midnight tonight, its network will be covered by oneworld's full range of alliance fares – the most extensive offered by any of the global alliances, including the market-leading oneworld Explorer round-the-world fare.

From tomorrow, this range of alliance fares will be further extended with the addition of a new Visit South Asian Sub-Continent pass, marking SriLankan's addition to oneworld, and offering great value flights in the region in conjunction with an international sector there. For full details, see separate press release.

Special frequent flyer miles offers to celebrate
To celebrate SriLankan's addition to oneworld, all FlySmiLes cardholders will receive double their usual FlySmiLes miles when flying on most oneworld partners between 15 May 2014 and 30 June. Members of most established member airlines' loyalty programmes will receive double the normal mileage awards/points when flying on SriLankan during the same period. For further details, exceptions and requirements, see separate news release and individual airlines' frequent flyer websites

SriLankan seals code-share agreements with two more oneworld partners – Finnair and S7
On the eve of its entry into oneworld, SriLankan today concluded code-share agreements with two more oneworld members – Finnair and Russia's S7 Airlines.

It already has code-sharing in place with oneworld's Malaysia Airlines while code-share discussions with other oneworld partners are at an advanced stage.

Code-sharing is a wide-spread airline industry practice whereby the marketing code of one airline is placed on a flight operated by another carrier. This has the effect of expanding the network offered by the marketing carrier without having to operate the flights itself, thereby enabling it to earn more revenue, while at the same time offering more choice to customers and making connections for them between the two airline partners' networks even more seamless.

SriLankan and S7 agreed to code-share last year, pending regulatory approvals – which have now just been granted. From 15 May, S7's designator will be added to flights operated by SriLankan between their Colombo and Moscow Domodedovo hubs, and also Colombo and Bangkok. At the same time, SriLankan's UL prefix will be placed on services operated by the Russian airline between its own Moscow Domodedovo base and Chelyabinsk, Irkutsk, Novosibirsk, St Petersburg, Volgograd and Yekaterinburg, effectively adding six key cities in Russia to SriLankan's network. These code-share flights open for sale tomorrow (1 May).

From 2 June, Finnair will add its AY code to flights operated by SriLankan between the latter's Colombo base and Bangkok, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London Heathrow, Paris CDG and Rome, while SriLankan's UL designator will be placed on connecting services flown by Finnair between the latter's Helsinki hub and Frankfurt, London Heathrow, Paris CDG and Rome and also between Helsinki and Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm.

SriLankan Airbus A330 in oneworld livery unveiled, launching massive marketing drive
SriLankan's addition to oneworld is being celebrated today at a ceremony in the presence of key Ministers from Sri Lanka's government at South Asia's newest international airport, Hambantota's Mattala Rajapaksa International, which serves the country's South and East Coasts and Hambantota's sea port.

Hosted by SriLankan Chairman Nishantha Wickremasinghe and Chief Executive Officer Kapila Chandrasena, the event was attended by senior executives from across oneworld, including:
- oneworld CEO Bruce Ashby.
- Representing Cathay Pacific Airways, which has served as SriLankan's sponsor into oneworld, its Chief Operating Officer Rupert Hogg.
- airberlin Vice-President Alliance Development Jörg Schwingeler.
- American Airlines' Senior Vice-President Alliances and Partnerships Kurt Stache.
- British Airways' Director of Strategy and Business Units Lynne Embleton.
- Finnair's Regional Manager South Asia Desmond Chacko.
- International Airlines Group (parent of British Airways and Iberia) Strategy Director Robert Boyle.
- Iberia's oneworld Director Fernando Varela.
- Japan Airlines' Executive Officer for International Relations and Alliances Hideki Oshima.
- LATAM Airlines Group (representing LAN Airlines and TAM Airlines) Managing Director Asia Pacific Patricio Aylwin.
- Malaysia Airlines' Commercial Director Hugh Dunleavy.
- Qantas Regional General Manager South Asia, Middle East and Africa Rohan Garnett.
- Qatar Airways' Chief Planning Officer Richard Roberts.
- Royal Jordanian's Vice-President Planning and Alliances Basma Majali.
- S7 Group Deputy CEO Strategy Vadim Besperstov.

In front of scores of media from around the world, Senior Minister Hon. Dr Sarath Amunugama, unveiled the first SriLankan aircraft to be decorated in a special oneworld livery – an Airbus A330, which will act as a giant flying billboard to publicise the airline's induction to the alliance.

Meantime, oneworld logos will be applied to each of the 21 aircraft in the airline's fleet from tonight, and at the airline's facilities at airports and downtown city locations worldwide, signaling that SriLankan is now part of the group.

SriLankan's oneworld implementation programme has represented one of the most extensive projects in the airline's history, with working groups covering some 20 streams of activity.

Completing the biggest expansion programme yet for the world's highest rated alliance
SriLankan's induction into oneworld marks the completion of the alliance's biggest expansion programme since its launch 15 years ago. In just two years, the group has added more than 15 airlines as full or affiliate members, including:
- TAM Airlines, the leading airline in Latin America's leading economy Brazil, which joined on 31 March 2014 alongside its partner in LATAM Airlines Group, long-time oneworld member LAN Airlines, consolidating oneworld's position as the continent's top alliance.
- US Airways, which also transitioned to oneworld on 31 March 2014, following its merger with American Airlines, which created the world's largest airline on most scores and makes oneworld the leading alliance in the USA, the world's biggest single air travel market.
- Qatar Airways, which joined on 30 October 2013 as the first of the Big Three Gulf carriers to join any global airline group, making oneworld the leading alliance in the Middle East, another of the world's fastest growing regions for air travel demand.
- Malaysia Airlines, one of South East Asia's top carriers, which joined on 1 February 2013.
- airberlin, the second biggest airline in Europe's largest economy, Germany, and one of the continent's biggest carriers, which boarded in March 2012.
- Key affiliate members, such as LAN Colombia, US Airways Express, Iberia Express, Austria's Niki and transatlantic carrier OpenSkies.

This has made oneworld the world's fastest growing airline alliance:
- Adding more than 250 destinations, expanding its network by 36 per cent.
- Increasing its daily departures by more than 6,000, a 76 per cent increase.
- Lifting its annual passenger carryings by more than 215 million, a 74 per cent rise.
- Expanding the annual capacity offered by the alliance by 56 per cent and its combined fleet by 50 per cent.
- Generating an additional US$ 40 billion revenues, a 40 per cent increase.Adding 5 points to its share of revenues between the world's Top 100 business cities, which is now at 26 per cent.

Meantime, oneworld has consolidated its position also as the most highly rated global alliance, as the current holder of an unprecedented eight of the industry's leading international "best alliance" awards worldwide.

What the CEOs say
oneworld Governing Board CEO Bruce Ashby said: "The addition of SriLankan Airlines concludes what has been the biggest and fastest growth programme by any global airline alliance, enabling oneworld to consolidate its position as the first choice global alliance for frequent international travelers the world over. In SriLankan, we are delighted to be adding another high quality, fast expanding carrier to the world's fastest growing and most highly rated global airline alliance."

Cathay Pacific Chief Operating Officer Rupert Hogg added: "Cathay Pacific has been very pleased to serve as SriLankan's sponsor into oneworld, supporting and mentoring it through its alliance implementation programme. We wish SriLankan, its customers and employees a warm welcome on board."

SriLankan Airlines' Chairman Nishantha Wickremasinghe said: "With the world airline industry increasingly focused on alliances, joining oneworld is one of the most significant developments to date for SriLankan Airlines. Joining the alliance will help put SriLankan more firmly on the global aviation map and vastly improve Sri Lanka's connectivity with the rest of the world, which is vital for our country's trade and tourism."

SriLankan Airlines Chief Executive Officer Kapila Chandrasena added: "As an airline highly focused on quality service, we are extremely proud to be lining up to become part of the highest quality alliance with the best airline partners offering a global network that best complements our own. We look forward to offering all the many benefits of oneworld to our customers from the start of business tomorrow."

http://it.oneworld.com/news-informa...col_id=column-1&p_p_col_pos=2&p_p_col_count=5

 

[DusCgn]

Alcune foto

 

[AirCeylon]

UL é ancora MOLTO legata ad emirates

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