SriLankan Airlines has formalized codeshare agreements with Saudia and Flynas, significantly expanding its footprint in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The partnerships, announced by the carrier’s commercial team, will give passengers access to 34 additional routes — 15 international and 19 domestic — across the Saudi network.
Network Expansion Details
Under the agreements, Saudia contributes access to seven international destinations — including Amman, Abu Dhabi, and Los Angeles — along with 13 domestic points such as Jeddah and Madinah. Flynas adds eight international routes, including Addis Ababa, Karachi, and Giza, plus six domestic connections. Travelers originating in Saudi Arabia can now connect through Riyadh and Dammam to SriLankan Airlines’ daily flights to Colombo, and onward to the carrier’s broader international network.
The move targets rising demand across business, leisure, and visiting-friends-and-relatives (VFR) travel between the two countries. SriLankan currently serves 131 destinations in 63 countries with an all-Airbus fleet, and the new codeshares strengthen its position in the Middle East and beyond.
“This partnership represents an important step in expanding SriLankan Airlines’ presence across Saudi Arabia whilst strengthening links to key destinations in the Middle East, Africa, and North America,” said Dimuthu Tennakoon, Head of Commercial at SriLankan Airlines.
Thusitha Wickramasinghe, the airline’s Manager for Saudi Arabia, added: “We are delighted to partner with Saudia and Flynas to further strengthen air travel links between Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka.”
The agreements come as Saudi carriers continue to invest in connectivity. Saudia recently topped global punctuality rankings during the Hajj and Eid peak, underscoring its operational reliability (read more). Meanwhile, the broader India-Saudi air corridor has seen increased competition, with carriers like Air India and Riyadh Air forging their own codeshare partnerships (details here).
For SriLankan Airlines, the partnerships are part of a broader strategy to capture traffic flows between South Asia and the Gulf. The carrier’s daily Colombo–Riyadh and Colombo–Dammam services now serve as hubs for onward connections, particularly for passengers heading to secondary cities in Saudi Arabia that were previously hard to reach on a single ticket.
Industry observers note that the enhanced network integration could also benefit the MICE segment, as Saudi Arabia continues to host large-scale business events and conferences. SriLankan’s ability to offer seamless connections from Colombo to multiple Saudi cities may appeal to corporate travel buyers and tour operators organizing group movements.
The partnerships do not involve equity stakes or joint ventures; they are straightforward codeshare arrangements that allow each airline to sell seats on the other’s flights. Both Saudia and Flynas retain their own branding and service standards on the operated sectors.
With Saudi Arabia’s tourism sector growing under the Vision 2030 framework, the expanded connectivity is expected to support both inbound travel to Sri Lanka and outbound traffic from the Kingdom. SriLankan Airlines has not disclosed specific revenue targets for the partnerships but indicated that initial booking data shows strong interest from the VFR segment.
