SriLankan Airlines begins flights to Beijing
By Jiang Jingjing (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-06-16 05:57

SriLankan Airlines have commenced a three-times-a-week service between Colombo and Beijing, to tap the large tourism market potentials in China.

The flights will operate from Colombo to Beijing via Bangkok every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

Peter Hill, SriLankan Airlines' chief executive officer, said the company aims to develop a daily service on the route in the near future.

"We also hope to expand our services to other cities in China, such as Shanghai and Guangzhou," he said.

The airline, which currently flies to 49 destinations in 27 countries, will be initially focusing on the huge family travel and leisure market from China to the Maldives and Sri Lanka, as well as providing the Chinese traveller with convenient connections to other points in South Asia, the Middle East and Europe, said Hill.

The route will be in keeping with SriLankan's vision of making Colombo the hub of South Asia, while promoting the Maldives and Sri Lanka as twin holiday destinations to Chinese travellers, he said.

Hill said the company is working closely with outbound travel agencies in Beijing and inbound tourism agencies in Sri Lanka in a bid to develop packages for those Chinese travellers who have a special demand for culture tours and inland adventure in Sri Lanka.

SriLankan Airlines is the national carrier of Sri Lanka, a beautiful island nation off the coast of southern India, strategically situated in the Indian Ocean with easy access to various points in Asia, Europe and Australia.

The country is rich in natural beauty, wildlife heritage, and millennia-old ancient ruins, he added.

There are only half a million tourists around the world going to Sri Lanka each year at the moment.

But Hill predicts the figure will grow by 50,000 to 100,000 annually in the coming few years.

Hill sees great potential in the Chinese market.

"This is a market with 1.3 billion people, 50 million of whom already use air travel. With its gross domestic product growing 9.5 per cent year on year, this is the market for the future, and we are entering it right on time," he said.

Sri Lankan Airlines has signed interline agreements with four airlines in China. They are Air China, China Eastern, China Southern and Dragonair.

Passengers anywhere in China will have easy access to the SriLankan network of destinations, and passengers flying into China can travel on SriLankan up to Beijing and hop on to domestic flights with ease, Hill said.

SriLankan has carried out a series of promotional events to lay the groundwork for the operations in China.

The airlines opened a ticket office in Beijing last September.

Mangala Samaraweera, Sri Lanka's minister of aviation and ports, travelled with the first service to Beijing yesterday, to promote tourism ties between Sri Lanka and China.

A series of roadshows is being held in many provinces throughout 2005, targeting travel agencies and customers.

There are other events being held in close co-operation with the Sri Lanka Tourist Board.

It is hoped that the launch of services to Beijing will now add a different cultural dialogue to the strong diplomatic and trade relations the two countries already enjoy, Hill said.

(China Daily 06/16/2005 page11)

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