Sri Lankan Airlines has ventured into its inaugural interline partnership with Virgin Australia, a move set to bolster the airline’s presence in Australia and offer passengers extensive connectivity options across the country and beyond. This fresh collaboration underscores Sri Lankan’s strong commitment to the Australian market and provides travelers with the convenience of seamlessly incorporating select Virgin Australia domestic and international flights into their Sri Lankan Airlines bookings. This means managing a multi-airline itinerary is now simplified through a single ticket.
Dimuthu Tennakoon, Head of Worldwide Sales & Distribution at Sri Lankan Airlines, expressed the significance of this partnership by stating, “Australia boasts one of the largest Sri Lankan diasporic communities, making our Australian routes consistently popular year-round. This is especially true for people visiting friends and relatives or pursuing higher education. This partnership will enable us to expand our presence in the Australian market by enhancing connectivity and delivering various benefits to our valued customers.”
Sri Lankan Airlines currently operates daily flights from Colombo to Melbourne and thrice-weekly flights from Colombo to Sydney. Passengers traveling with Sri Lankans to Melbourne or Sydney can now seamlessly connect to numerous Australian cities served by Virgin Australia, including Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Cairns, Darwin, Hobart, Hamilton Island, Launceston, Gold Coast, and Perth. Furthermore, passengers have the option to continue their journey beyond Australia to destinations such as New Zealand, Samoa, and Fiji. This partnership is particularly advantageous for Sri Lankan and Indian Australians residing in these cities, as they can now embark on journeys to Sri Lanka or India with a single booking through Sri Lankan Airlines. Additionally, passengers can enjoy a hassle-free experience with a single check-in, including for their baggage, at the departure airport, bypassing transit check-in queues.
The introduction of interline flight options with Virgin Australia, both domestically and internationally, will not only enhance accessibility to Sri Lanka for Australian outbound tourists but also contribute to the growth of leisure travel from Australia to Sri Lanka—a significant customer segment for Sri Lankan Airlines. Moreover, it will facilitate seamless connections for Sri Lankan Airlines’ passengers flying to Australia via Colombo from the Maldives, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
Since resuming flights to Melbourne in October 2017 and Sydney in June 2020, nearly a million passengers have chosen Sri Lankan Airlines for their journeys to Australia. This newfound partnership promises to elevate Sri Lankan Airlines’ service to Australia, marking an exciting new chapter in the airline’s operations in the land down under.
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