SRILANKAN Airlines is extending its presence to south-west China with the launch of scheduled charter flights to and from Chongqing in Sichuan province.
From July 1, the airline will be operating a weekly flight to and from Colombo, through Bangkok. The charter is in collaboration with Beijing-based travel operator Chongqing Huapont International Travel Service.
An agreement between the Chinese firm and SriLankan Airlines was signed in Colombo on May 8, said airline officials.
The national carrier currently operates a total of 15 weekly flights to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong in China, and Hong Kong.
China is a growing source market for Sri Lanka with 54,288 visitors in 2013, and numbers are expected to double this year. Between January and April 2014, Chinese visitors numbered 36,803 or a 135.9 per cent increase over the same period last year.
However, India and the UK are still Sri Lanka’s biggest source markets.
SriLankan Airlines joined the Oneworld alliance on May 1 (TTG Asia e-Daily, March 10, 2014).
