SriLankan Airlines has marked the first anniversary of its entry into oneworld by entering into a landmark code-sharing agreement with American Airlines, a founder member of the global airline alliance. Its code-sharing agreement with American Airlines is the fifth signed with its partners in oneworld since its addition to the alliance, with similar arrangements set in place in the past year with Finnair, Japan Airlines, Qantas, and Russia’s S7 Airlines, alongside an established accord with Malaysia Airlines.
Under the initial phase of their agreement, SriLankan’s UL designator will be placed on services operated by American Airlines on six transatlantic routes, connecting the US carrier’s Dallas/Fort Worth, Chicago O’Hare and New York JFK hubs with the European gateways of Frankfurt and Paris CDG, where they will provide seamless transfers with SriLankan’s own connections to and from its Colombo hub.
Later, the plan is to add American’s own AA code to select flights operated by SriLankan, smoothing travel to its home country and across its extensive South Asian network for American’s customers.
Lal Perera, Head of Worldwide Sales, SriLankan Airlines said, “Joining oneworld was one of the most significant achievements in SriLankan Airlines’ history – and we celebrate the first anniversary of our entry into this airline industry premier league with another great landmark, with the launch of code-sharing with the world’s biggest airline and oneworld co-founder, American Airlines. Being part of oneworld has vastly improved SriLankan’s and our nation’s connectivity with the rest of the world, which is vital for our country’s trade and tourism. Today’s agreement with American Airlines improves still further our access to and from the United States.”
“We are excited about this codeshare partnership with our fellow oneworld member, Sri Lankan Airlines. This agreement will provide customers traveling from Sri Lanka greater access to key destinations throughout the United States,” said Kurt Stache, Senior Vice President of Alliances and Partnerships, American Airlines.
