oneworld members elect Qatar Airways and SriLankan Airlines are to take part within the Global Explorer round-the-world fare offered by all of the alliance’s members and selected other carriers.
The move represents a primary step by both airlines towards their implementation into oneworld, that’s on target for the year ahead – once they will start participating within the full range of the alliance’s fares and offering all its other services and benefits.
Their oneworld joining dates may be announced in the end, the organisation said in an announcement.
Meantime, Qatar Airways’ entire global network, covering 125 destinations in 71 countries worldwide from its Doha hub, and SriLankan’s entire global schedule serving 32 airports in 22 countries will both now feature as portion of Global Explorer, that is probably the most popular round-the-world fares available.
The Gulf carrier adds four countries to the map served by Global Explorer – Iran, Mozambique, Rwanda and the Seychelles – and 17 more destinations around the Indian sub-continent, the center East and Africa, including India’s Amritsar, Goa and Kochi and Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro.
It also significantly expands the routing alternatives available through Global Explorer, by adding direct connections between hundreds of city pairs, chiefly between Asia and Africa or southern Europe.
SriLankan connects one destination to the worldwide Explorer map, India’s Tiruchchirappalli, while also adding more routing options, mainly in South Asia, where it’s not only the flag carrier of Sri Lanka but additionally the leading international airline serving the Maldives and likewise has an important presence in Southern India.
As Qatar Airways and SriLankan Airlines start participating in Global Explorer, Gulf Air withdraws its participation.
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