Sri Lanka’s national carrier has announced the launch of its own frequent flyer programme, Smiles, which will start from April 1.
Sri Lankan Airlines has been managed by Emirates (which owns a 43 per cent share in the carrier) for several years, but this agreement is coming to an end, and with it goes the frequent flyer tie-up with Emirates’ Skywards loyalty scheme. A spokesperson for the Dubai-based airline said:
"We can confirm that SriLankan Airlines will cease to be part of the Skywards programme when the existing management agreement between Emirates and SriLankan Airlines expires on March 31, 2008. Until that date, Skywards members can continue to earn and redeem miles on both airlines as per the existing programme rules. Existing members will continue to be a part of the programme, post SriLankan Airline's departure. More information about changes in the Skywards programme will be communicated to our members in the coming weeks."
Sri Lankan Airlines says that Skywards members will have a choice of transferring their Skywards miles to the new Smiles programme in full or part, and those who make the transfer before June 30 will also be placed in the equivalent membership tier attained in the Skywards scheme.
Manoj Gunawardena, head of worldwide passenger sales, says: “Smiles will be introducing a number of partner airlines and other companies which will offer members a choice to both earn and burn miles for a variety of goods and services. These will range from hotel stays to bank services, retailers, and especially Sri Lankan Holidays – the airline’s leisure arm.”
The Smiles programme will have three membership tiers – blue, silver and gold – according to how many miles have been accrued. Every mile flown will be credited to the individual’s Smiles account as one mile. Silver membership is achieved by flying over 25,000 miles or a minimum of 20 sectors within a calendar year, while gold is for those with over 50,000 miles or 40 sectors within the year.
All Smiles members will be able to redeem air miles on plane tickets and upgrades, as well as benefiting from pre-assigned seating and priority wait-listing. Gold and silver members will also be entitled to priority check-in, free excess baggage (up to 12kg for silver and 16kg for gold), priority baggage-delivery, family bonus, fast-track facility (for gold members) and use of the airline’s lounge at Colombo’s Bandaranaike International airport.
For more information visit flysmiles.com, srilankan.aero.
Report by Jenny Southan
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