SriLankan Airlines, Emirates Sign Interline Agreement As IndiGo Expands Sri Lanka Network

Connectivity from Sri Lanka has received a boost following the signing of a reciprocal interline agreement between SriLankan Airlines and Emirates, alongside the confirmation that Indian LCC IndiGo plans to further increase flights to the South Asia country.

The partnership between SriLankan and Emirates will enable passengers to access new points on each other’s networks via Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) and Dubai International Airport (DXB) utilizing a single ticket.

For SriLankan passengers, the agreement covers 15 cities serviced by Emirates beyond DXB, including Amman, Bahrain, Cairo, Dammam, Medina, Moscow, Muscat, Nairobi and Tel Aviv, as well as the likes of Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York JFK and San Francisco.

Meanwhile, Emirates passengers will have access to 15 regional destinations operated by SriLankan via CMB, including two new Indian destinations—Madurai and Tiruchirapally. Also included are Bangalore, Bangkok, Guangzhou and Kuala Lumpur, among others.

Emirates currently provides two daily flights to CMB, utilizing Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, as well as an additional daily service via Malé, Maldives.

Separately, IndiGo has confirmed its intention to launch a third nonstop service to CMB, adding to existing routes from Bengaluru and Chennai, served daily and 2X-daily at present. The airline will introduce a route from Hyderabad (HYD) on Nov. 2, operating six times per week.

Vinay Malhotra, head of global sales at IndiGo, says the new route will “serve as a catalyst for further enhancing business ties, trade as well as tourism between India and Sri Lanka.” OAG Schedules Analyser data shows that IndiGo will go head-to-head in the HYD-CMB market with SriLankan, which provides a 6X-weekly service using a mix of Airbus A320s and A321s.