SriLankan Airlines - by L Rowlett

5 May 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

LHR-MLE and MLE-CMB-LHR in Economy Class. Cabin staff were on the whole fairly friendly but more business-like than anything else, A340-300 offered better leg room than Virgin equivalent, but internal appearance was a little tired and unloved. Food was good in my opinion, with regular snacks and drinks offered, particularly on CMB-LHR leg. Information at gates in London and Columbo pretty poor, with delays both times and no explanation offered. Sound quality of in-seat entertainment pretty bad, with crackling throughout on movie channels. Range of movies and TV ok, but would benefit from on-demand. If you're looking for the little extra touches that makes flying SIA economy so pleasant, then you'll be disappointed. A 3-4 star airline I'd say, but certainly not an unpleasant experience.

SriLankan Airlines - by V Mielke

15 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Return flight FRA-CMB-BKK. Checkin in FRA and BKK was fast and friendly, in CMB slow and unfriendly. Airplane rather dirty, food was really bad. Beer was warm. On the other hand Sri Lankan was about EUR 400 cheaper than other airlines for the flight from FRA to BKK on the same date, that is EUR 1600 for our family.

SriLankan Airlines - by D Shepherd

15 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

LHR-CMB Economy. Attentive staff, food as good as other airlines. Flight was on time. Leg room was good at 32". CMB-Male 2 hour flight, snack, nothing to get excited about, but edible. MLE-CMB 70 Min flight, the crew attention system was faulty and kept ringing. They crew were aware before boarding and did nothing. Seat back cover was held up by tray table and fell down when it was used. Minor cosmetic but annoying. CMB-LHR was late leaving. Gate lounge (12) too small to seat everyone waiting to board. Crew initially very good and attentive - after meal service they disappeared, had to call 3 times to get a drink. Otherwise food was adequate and edible, good choices. Again middle of the road quality. A340 were clean and tidy and in a good state of repair.

SriLankan Airlines - by R Senaka

6 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

MLE-CMB-KUL economy class in March. As both sectors were empty in economy class (their cramped business class was full), seating was not a problem. I could use the centre 4 seats abreast for a good 2.5 hour sleep on CMB-KUL. On both sectors, aircraft are very tired and rather dirty. Crew never smiled and was rude when I asked for a landing card to KUL. As I skipped the meals, no comment on catering.

SriLankan Airlines - by Nick Matthews

10 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

CMB to LHR business Class. Charging top price without flat beds - not good value for money. Entertainment system in my seat was broken. Food very poor.

SriLankan Airlines - by David Fruin

10 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

LHR/CMB return. Cabin crew were attentive and friendly. Food well presented but nothing special. The aircraft were grubby and in need of a wipe over. We would fly them again.

SriLankan Airlines - by S Jones

7 February 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Arriving at Colombo Airport, greeted with complete lack of information as to which desk to check in at for flight to Male. Chaos ensued with people becoming irate and staff taking no notice of pleas to sort the situation out. All other airlines displayed flight details, Sri Lankan Airlines did not. The flight itself was fairly good. On returning through Colombo we boarded flight to Heathrow. At first the flight was good, however at lunchtime when drinks were served we became aware that the couple behind us in seats 64A+C were being encouraged to drink rather a lot. The couple became progressively more drunk, making it uncomfortable to be seated in front of them. Complaints to a stewardess went unheeded . The cabin crew were noticeable by their absence. My husband asked a steward if we could be moved, the Purser was called, he was apologetic and offered us a glass of champagne which we declined.

SriLankan Airlines - by G Cairns

5 February 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

MLE-CMB-LHR Economy Class. Found service, food and cleanliness on the flight to be sub-standard. The flight departed 1 hour late, with no announcement or communication given at the gate. There was rubbish in the seat pocket from the previous flight and toilets were unclean - the 3 I tried during the flight were all out of soap. The staff were abrupt, bordering on rude, and seemed to be particularly clumsy with several spillages and mistakes. The seat back entertainment worked sporadically throughout the flight and the controller was worn and unsightly.

SriLankan Airlines - by Michael Schade

27 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Jeddah-Colombo-Singapore return in C class. This was a mixed bag; check in at Jeddah chaotic, no business class counter; took me an hour to check in. Service on board ok, but very poor food quality and quantity. But everyone was very angry that no alcohol was served. Saudi is a dry country and everyone was looking forward to a drink. But the purser announced that UL has a policy that the do not serve alcohol on flights ex Saudi. No other carrier has this strange policy! The other flight were better with quite good food and service.

SriLankan Airlines - by P Perera

13 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

An airline that removes its CEO for trying to run an airline, and not operate an airline that can be personally chartered by the SriLankan Prime Minister at the click of a finger? No wonder Emirates conveniently decided to pull out of their investment / contract to run the company. Looks like dark days ahead if things are to go back to the old days of AirLanka - for me, I will stick to Emirates and Qatar Airways. A shame, but this is the way things are done (or should we say not done!) in Sri Lanka.

SriLankan Airlines - by P Karunaratne

24 December 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

CMB-AUH. The flight was scheduled to depart at 18:35, but Sri Lankan called us at 15:00 saying that the flight was delayed till 20:15, due to technical problems. After getting to the airport, the check-in agent informed as of a further one hour delay, till 21:15. After a rather boring three hours, I made my way to the gates, and I took a glance at the screens and was delayed again till 22:00. After another hour, I made it to the gate, but 22:00 came and passed by, but still the plane was not even parked at the gate. The ground staff of SriLankan Airlines was incompetent at keeping the passengers informed of delays. The A320 finally took off at 22:45, more than 4 hours late. The A320 interior needed upgrading desperately. FAs acted as if they did not want to be there. The seat was torn, armrest missing, seat recline switch was broken, no IFE. A very disapointing flight!

SriLankan Airlines - by Christian Hodson

23 December 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

LHR-MLE-CMB-LHR on a mixture of A340-300 and A320 aircraft. The outbound flight to Male was full so there wasn't much in the way of legroom, and seats are very narrow, however the 2-4-2 configuration on the Airbus is a plus point compared to the cramped conditions on a B747. The food on all flights was as good as any airline I have flown, and cabin crew were excellent and carried out frequent bar / drinks services throughout the flight. The entertainment choices were very limited, and the sound very crackly. The non stop flight to the Maldives is a massive bonus, as is the easy connection on the return in Colombo - a surprisingly modern, clean airport.

SriLankan Airlines - by C Young

11 December 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

LHR-CMB-GOI round trip on A340. Plenty of legroom. The food was good and plenty of drinks and snacks. Entertainment with plenty of choices. CMB to GOI on a smaller plane which was quite old and food wasn't so good. Cabin staff very polite and helpful.

SriLankan Airlines - by J Tottey

21 November 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

LHR-CMB-LHR in economy. Flew with an 18 month old so requested bulkhead seats which we got. Crew on outbound flight ok but nothing special - on return flight very helpful. Planes now look dated and in need of a refurbishment. Just looking tired and old. IFE on return flight for both myself and my wife didn't work. Food pretty poor on the LHR-CMB leg but better on return. Whoever thinks you can reheat omelettes and they will taste nice is insane. Good drinks, snacks etc but being close to the galley helps. All in all a good airline, but in need of a renovation.

SriLankan Airlines - by T Buerkle

1 November 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

FRA-CMB-MLE return in Economy. Cleanliness leaves much room for improvement. Seats are a nightmare with many legroom constraints and limited comfort. The flight attendants were partly polite and PTVs were reasonable though the movie selection was limited. The food was average to poor. I found the cabin crew were very hard to find and disappeared apart from meal service and duty free sales. Call buttons were ignored. Strangely, all drinks were served in small half-full cups - so you could never quench your thirst. Mid-flight snacks listed on the menu) had to be requested. In essence, you need to go to the galley to get anything apart from mealtimes, however you feel bothering the flight attendants hanging around there. All in all, quite frustrating to see what happened to - a smile of paradise - compared to previous years

SriLankan Airlines - by J Broughton

1 November 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Heathrow to Goa via Colombo return in economy. Check-in at Heathrow was quick. A340 cabin looking a little worn and tatty but it was clean. The seats were comfortable, with ample legroom for those of average height and build. Newspapers brought round before takeoff and hot towels provided at the start and end of the flight as well as before meals. Cabin crew smartly dressed, professional and, while perhaps not overly friendly, were helpful and efficient. In flight entertainment OK, the games are good fun and the radio stations offer a decently varied selection of music but the movies were a little dated. Food plentiful and pretty good as far as airline meals go. The self-service fruit juices and snacks were available. We were given a ticket that entitled us to a free sandwich, cake and soft drink at Colombo whilst we waited for our flight to Goa which came as a pleasant surprise! CMB-GOI leg on an A320 which had definitely seen better days but again, it was clean and comfortable and we were served a nice breakfast. All flights were around 30 minutes late and the cabin crew tended to disappear for long periods of time, although there is a certain self-service aspect with SriLankan. There's usually at least one FA in the Galley who will make you an alcoholic or hot drink. All in all, a very pleasant experience as far as long-haul flights go and I wouldn't hesitate to fly with SriLankan again.

SriLankan Airlines - by Ian Sinclair

20 September 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

BKK-CMB-LHR Business Class. Airbus 340 is showing its age, needs an upgrade. BKK-cmb sector on newer (ex emirates) aircraft with updated seating and on demand IFE - pity it was only a 3 hour flight. Lounge in BKK (Emirates) and Colombo were excellent, even offered a complimentary massage before the flight to London. Inflight duty free extremely reasonable. Great service from attentive, friendly team on both sectors. Food - lots of it, average to good.

SriLankan Airlines - by J Matarazzo

6 September 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

LHR-CMB-LHR in Economy, A340. There is a small economy section behind Business Class that seems to have more leg room than the rest of the economy cabin - this is a big plus on a 11+ hour flight. Both flights were packed each way. The flight attendants were polite and the PTVs were quite reasonable though the movie selection was limited. The food was average (above average if compared to American carriers). The cabin temperature was hot when parked at the gate in both LHR and CMB and remained uncomfortably warm throughout the flight in both directions. I found that the cabin crew were very hard to flag down and disappeared apart from meal service and duty free sales - which differs from other comments here. Call buttons were universally ignored (perhaps because children constantly press them as a sort of game). Drinks, apart from meals times, were passed not more than twice on an 11 hour flight each way. Strangely, all drinks were served in small half-full cups - so you could never quench your thirst in an overly warm cabin. Mid-flight snacks (listed on the menu) had to be requested. In essence, you need to go to the galley to get anything apart from mealtimes. All in all, still a good airline with extra legroom where I sat, but the service was uneven. I suspect the service standards on the LHR-CMB flights where most pax are Sri Lankans differ from the LHR-MLE flights (which are full of UK tourists).

SriLankan Airlines - by G Chew

28 August 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

LHR-MLE-CMB-MLE-NRT with a night stop in Colombo in Economy. The seats had more room than I was expecting, and cabin crew were really good. Meals and drinks offered on the Tokyo flight were below those of the London flight, but staff still great. London flight was completely full, but the Tokyo one was really empty. I'd fly with them again, especially considering the cheap fares.

SriLankan Airlines - by L Marshall

23 July 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

London Heathrow to Male and Colombo. Highly efficient airline, good boarding procedures, exactly on time. Impeccably presented staff, friendly, helpful and excellent service. Food very good. Spacious and comfortable seats in economy. Only IFE a bit disappointing. One overnight and one daytime flight - overnight preferable, but still good for a 10 hour day time flight.

SriLankan Airlines - by Ross Kelly

12 July 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

CMB to LHR on A340-300. Very good flight. Less than half full. Service very good with crew constantly coming round with drinks. Good food. IFE ok but you were unable to stop or rewind.

SriLankan Airlines - by Julian Kenny

27 June 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

LHR-CMB-MLE economy return. Pre-booked seats with Skywards. Sat just behind Business Class on all sectors. Very generous leg room (I'm 6'3"), not sure if this applied to the seats further back though. Food excellent, friendly staff. Overall very impressed. Only minor gripe was that all flights were late by at least an hour. MLE-CMB was over 4 hours late and we would have missed the connection to LHR had we not been moved to an Emirates flight to CMB, an advantage of being part of the same company. Sri Lankan better in my view. Emirates decidedly average service and seats not as comfy.

SriLankan Airlines - by Chris Carmody

3 May 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Singapore to Colombo. Flight was quite pleasant being only a short one of 4 hours. I did find the plane a little dirty and not what I expected from a 4 star airline. What was annoying was the transit desk at Changi. The desk right next to the boarding gate was meant to be open for boarding pases. After waiting for half an hour I decided to wander up to the other desk, the other end of the terminal. There were two staff members booking people in. When I asked what happened at the other desk, they simply said, "the other person hadn't turned up".

SriLankan Airlines - by E Surini

3 May 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

LHR-MLE + MLE-CMB-LHR - April 2007. Efficient checkin at both end. We had registered at Skyward in order to pre-book seats in small economy section just behind business. Seats 10 A-C did not have anybody reclining in front of us. Very good seats both ways. Food good, entertainment good, service good. Cannot complain, would recommend Sri Lankan and will use them again. Hopefully they will introduce a direct flight MLE-LHR in the near future.

SriLankan Airlines - by Rathin Roy

26 April 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

BKK-CMB and CMB-MAA in Business Class. Excellent food, very comfortable seat, superb IFE and excellent service in the air and in the Emirates lounge in Bangkok and Sri Lankan lounge in Colombo (complimentary massage offered, full range of drinks and food) . On medium haul, this is a top-end product, but be warned that the long haul product is not as good.

SriLankan Airlines - by Kurt Mueller

20 April 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

MAA-CMB-FRA and back in Y class. All flights on time, with exception of CMB-FRA which was delayed due to connecting pax and subsequently because of "four passengers having decided not to fly with us today" - yet they apparently had checked in and were happy to have 200+ pax waiting for one hour while their bags were unloaded. Food excellent (I always order a special seafood meal), drinks plentiful. IFE with individual screens, but as mentioned earlier by another contributor, the rotation of three sets of entertainment packages is meaningless, as most of the movies are identical in all three packages. Seats reasonably comfortable - certainly more leg room than EK. At FRA, UL ground handling is by LH, but you have to wait for dedicated check-in desks to open (there is no early check-in facility). UL use the LH Business Lounge which is fine for drinks, but not the place to be if you're hungry. My only gripe is that UL - which is uniquely placed to cater to the massive market of southern India - does not always offer immediate connections. For instance, arriving from Europe at 12 noon, the next UL flight to Madras is at 6.30 p.m.

SriLankan Airlines - by K Lowe

10 April 2007   Customer Trip Rating : n/a

Sri Lankan Airlines from Heathrow to Colombo and to Male. I found the service excellent and food very good. It was also a nice change to not only get a menu for the meals but real cutlery and a real glass for our wine (which was topped up regularly). IFE varied. In Heathrow we discovered our luggage had only being tagged to Colombo and not Male (our journey originated in Cork, Ireland). When we arrived in Colombo we went straight to the SriLankan desk in arrivals to see what they could do. The gentleman went out of his way to make sure our bags went to Male which meant we didn't have to complete landing cards and go through immigration just to pick up our bags and recheck them. It saved us a lot of hassle and was customer service as it's best. I would have no hesitation in recommending SriLankan for long or short flights.

SriLankan Airlines - by Glenny Pillai
24 March 2007

LHR-CMB and back 07th March 2007. Flew on Airbus A340 aircraft. Needs updating desperately. Seats are not as comfortable as one would expect for a 10-hour flight. IFE was ok throughout flight apart from the fact that the same films were on rotation three times round. Food was different I have to say. Nice choice given and snacks were constantly available at any time. Drinks were also on hand. Flight crew were smiling when we boarded but I think by the time we were half-way through and flying over Dubai, I think, they dropped their smiles. It was very difficult getting hold of them if you needed something. I have flown SriLankan on their domestic routes and the quality and standard is much more higher there than on the international routes. They seriously need to consider updating their aircraft and their IFE systems. If they can get around this, they will be near enough perfect. Saying all this, the flight was absolutely packed! I would fly them again.

SriLankan Airlines - by P Brown
20 March 2007

Appalling. Flew out from London to Colombo for our honeymoon. The plane was old enough to still have working ashtrays, the air conditioning system leaked during take off and landing, the FA's were smiling but incompetent and the IFE gave up, completely, after an hour of the flight. The biggest concern was the IFE as the flight was a long one, and that many hours without movies music or games wasn't pleasant. The FA's tried to get it working, giving me 5 different pairs of headphones to try, resetting the system 3 times before the screen went blank, and the whole thing became unresponsive. Nightmare. Once in Sri Lanka we complained, were given the complete run around, spent 3-4 days chasing them and talking to different people to be told, in no uncertain terms, that there was NO fault reported on the plane, my IFE must have been working and therefore I was making it up. I implore you to fly with someone else. There are other, better, options, with people who actually care.

SriLankan Airlines - by Simon Loh
27 December 2006

SIN to CMB on its A342 and back via KUL on A332. Efficient check-in at SIN, however it's the only airline that needs passenger to go thru another channel for checks before reaching the immigration counter. Systematic boarding. Onboard hot towel was given before take-off. Pillow & blanket on seat. No newspapers available. Menu distributed before meal time with 3 choices. The lamb with rice was nice. IFE was ok, quite a variety of movies and music channels. The remote on my seat was jammed, so no games for me. The IFE console below my seat was disturbing, I could only stretch out one of my legs, that's a problem for those seating at row 21. And I realised that family with baby or children tends to sit near the main exit door, so ask for somewhere else while check-in if you mind the baby's cries. FA were going around routinely on their job, not much of a polite smile though, except for maybe one or two. An FA told a passenger not to stow baggage on an overhead compartment (which was not label for any restriction on storage), a suitcase was later kept inside which I presume is a first-aid kit, they should have the compartment labelled in the first place. One toilet was mistakenly locked up from the outside for almost the entire flight until an FA discovered it while the queue is getting long. In CMB, no differentiation between flight numbers at check-in counters for all UL flights, queue tends to be longer this way. Had a fairly ok spanish omelette meal, but what followed on the KUL-SIN sector was terrible, a cold curry bread with a concentrated mango juice, I rather opt for peanuts! Only the A332 has skycam for a great view outside the cabin, but the seat on A342 is more comfortable. All sectors of flights are just on time or slightly delayed.

SriLankan Airlines - by T Kelly
27 December 2006

KUL-SIN. Have travelled this route before with SIA, and was pleasantly surprised with service provided by UL. Hot towels supplied, and a decent meal served on a 45min flight! I'm unsure whether this is due to the fact that this leg is part of the total flight to CMB, but on the same flight on SIA all you receive is a cup of tea/coffee. FAs professional if not a little distant, IFE switched on even for this short sector. Decent enough selection, AVOD. IFE also featured camera on the aircraft, which was interesting. Seating layout great, 2x4x2, good legroom with footrest. Pillow and blanket were also present on each seat upon boarding. Upon arrival in SIN, passengers' tickets and passports are carefully scrutinised to ensure that they are supposed to be disembarking in SIN. Overall, although my experience was rather short, I would fly UL again.

SriLankan Airlines - by Kurt Müller
10 December 2006

DXB-CMB in Y class. Had some trouble initially getting a seat on this flight, but due to my Skywards Gold status obtained confirmation on morning of travel. However, once on board, plane was fairly full, but there were enough empty seats for crew to offer passengers feeling cramped to move. Very courteous crew who went through drinks and then food service with smiles and polite chat. Cabin lights remained on high throughout 3.5 hour flight, which made it difficult to sleep. Strangely, UL no long serve Sri Lankan beer (Three Coins) - only the somewhat boring Carlsberg. Colombo airport was extremely busy when our flight arrived at 500am., and baggage delivery - which in my case took over an hour (despite the priority tag) - severely marred the whole flight experience.

SriLankan Airlines - by Sara Kaye
17 November 2006

LHR-MLE. The return trip was routed through CMB. We had pre-reserved Economy seats in the front small section behind business class by joining Skywards but at MLE check in were told they had been given away by the airline staff in CMB and instead of being in seats 12A & C we would be in row 52. By the time we boarded the short flight to CMB from MLE we were given new boarding passes, the situation had been resolved and we were now in 11H & 11K on the leg from CMB to LHR. All was fine until we boarded the plane, found our seats and had not one but two entertainment boxes taking up our legroom. The 11K was as expected (taking 2/3 of space) but the 11H box took all of the legroom. So, two questions - why were our seats given away in the first place and where do Sri Lankan get off by offering seats with absolutely no legroom? Do they think no one would complain? Thankfully a thoughtful lady swapped seats with us (she was travelling on her own). Other than this we were quite impressed with the service and quality of food - although by the fourth set of the IFE we found the films repetitive and struggled to choose something interesting to view. I heard that Sri Lankan are introducing a direct return flight from MLE to LHR in the near future, which would be my first choice for the future as the change in CMB added an additional 4 hours to the return journey home.

SriLankan Airlines - by Tony Harrison
7 November 2006

CMB to LHR. Very prompt on time and efficient departure from Colombo, the aircraft was very clean and the staff very polite and helpful throughout the journey. The meals were excellent and of a very high class, and if this wasn't enough to keep you going, filled rolls and fruit drinks were always available for you to help yourself in the galley. The outward journey from the UK was of the same standard. The cabin staff all look very smart and neat and tidy at all times. There was the lack of classical music, and the films were very dated, that apart l would highly recommend SriLankan Airlines.

SriLankan Airlines - by Ushan Liyanage
25 September 2006

DXB to CMB Airbus A340-300. I have travelled on UL before, but not for about 10 months. So I was looking forward to seeing how they are performing today given that they have won a few awards and to seeing if there have been any changes. Arrived at DXB Airport several hours before departure. Check-in was fine as being a Skywards Gold Member, dedicated check-in desk. However, as many travellers know, the Business Class Lounge at DXB is always something to dread given its constant state of overcrowding! On this occassion, it was fine, but towards my departure time of 09:00, it became full. Only two other people J-Class (both were family members of Sri Lankan Airlines staff!!) and I looked into Y-Class and it was about 30% full. Cabin crew was very nice and food was served about 30 minutes after take-off. Total flight time was about 4.5 hours and the IFE choice was good. In summary, nothing much has changed in 10 months, which both good and bad. Above all, I was pleased to see that Sri Lankan is still operating itself as a full-service airline and not going down the path of a no-frills airline.

SriLankan Airlines - by Philip Bircham
9 September 2006

Dubai to Colombo to Dubai. What has happened to UL - service standards are just dreadful, cabin crew appear to be old hands who find it all just too much, and have no genuine or sincere wish to assist the passengers. Eager and ambitious younger crew appeared to be nervously looking over their shoulders all the time. In flight meals not really pleasant and barely worth a look, the cabin, crew and service just look so very tired and worn out. Its major time for an overhaul. UL closley matches the low cost airlines, as I have been flying UL since 1985, I clearly remember the superb service and crew, equally the demise of the Air Lanka 1st class cabin appeared to be the start of this decline. Return flight to Dubai, check in took 40 minutes at the J counter, as still to this day there are only two counters, and passengers bickering over excess baggage. Supervisors and managers nowhere to be seen. After 25 minutes went to find a supervisor who came to the counter and waived the baggage through. For short flights even the current service standards appear to be poor. Long for the old days, or at least a major revamp of the cabins and crew.

SriLankan Airlines - by Suranganie Fernando
8 September 2006

We have always travelled Sri Lankan even though it is pricier than some of the other airlines, mainly as it is the only direct flight to Colombo. Up until a couple of years ago we found the service excellent and shortcomings were always dealt with a smile and politeness and it was easy for the passenger to be gracious and overlook any minor or even major problems with the attitude of the cabin crew. However the last few times we flew on SriLankan we found that most of the cabin crew very indifferent to the needs of SriLankan Passengers. On one flight I had to ask several times for a glass of water and had to wait almost an hour before it was delivered. I now carry my own bottles of water so as not to have the indignity of having to plead with the cabin crew. However the service received by the non Sri Lankan passengers seem to be excellent! We are very easy going and undemanding passengers and it did not pay to be so. This complaint is not unique as several other Sri Lankans I spoke to spoke of their utter dissatisfaction with the treatment they received. I think cabin crew should be re-trained and perhaps some of the old hands should be brought back to show the crew a thing or two about customer care and that all customers have the right to expect respect and equal service. Let not the cabin crew forget that their responsibility is to care for each and individual passenger. Most passengers are undemanding and a simple request such as a glass of water should not be too arduous a task. We now look elsewhere to travel to Colombo and find the service of the smaller airlines excellent although we prefer to travel on a direct flight to Colombo.

SriLankan Airlines - by Alan Champion
26 August 2006

London-Colombo-Male & back. All aspects of Sri Lankan's service was to be commended, with cabin crew polite, helpful and cheerful. Food and drink plentiful and worth eating. Good leg room. Excellent IFE. It seems they are making a real effort to up their game, and hats off to them - it's working!

SriLankan Airlines - by Bruce McLaughlin
18 June 2006

HKG-BKK-HKG in Economy. Generally great flights, although check-in at HKG was shambolic. We'd pre-booked seats 3A and 3C, which we were told by UL staff in Hong Kong were the front seats in Economy. When we got to check-in, we were told they'd been given away, and we were given 8 H&K. When we got on the plane, there was no row 8. Apparently, they'd sent a refurbished plane, but forgot to tell the check-in staff. So we were told it was "free seating". It took a long time for the cabin crew and ground crew to get everyone seated and make sure everyone was on the plane, so we took off late. Everything else was a joy, though. The cabin crew were really helpful and polite - they even dealt with the seating problems politely and as efficiently as they could - and the food was OK outbound, and excellent (Sri Lankan veg curry) on the way back. The IFE was great, and it looked like it would be even better on long-haul: there's a very good choice of obscure and interesting films as well as the usual mainstream stuff.

SriLankan Airlines - by S Howe
10 June 2006

KUL-LHR via CMB Economy. Overall, service was excellent in Economy and food nicer than Emirates. CMB-LHR flight was very quiet and the service was friendly and efficient. I felt that 2 meals was inadequate considering it was a day flight with only the offer of 'sandwiches' in between which were a bland. LHR-KUL via CMB Business upgrade then Economy. Business class was mostly empty so enjoyed a restful flight, however, seats did not fully recline and as a result found it difficult to settle. Service was impeccable and friendly, food was tasty. No real complaints. In economy to KL, service was slow but the food again was good.

SriLankan Airlines - by Naveen Manivannan
6 May 2006

CMB to MAA. SriLankan A320 economy seats are more comfortable than Jet Airways' B737 which plies on the same sector. But Jet served better food. The one thing that made the flying experience terrible was that SriLankan ground staff allowed some passengers to board the aircraft with multiple large baggage (as hand luggage). These passengers got loads of goods from the duty-free shops at Colombo Airport. They create so much of inconvenience and hassle on board the aircraft, that the entire experience was very frustrating. The flight attendants seemed to be helpless, but didn't lose their cool, even when some of these passengers attempted to stow their extra-large hand luggage in the first class stow areas!

SriLankan Airlines - by Christine Zawodny
18 April 2006

Frankfurt to Colombo return). And also trip to Male return Colombo with SriLankan. Overall, the flight was nice. Nice cabin crew. Great choice of meals during the flight and also drinks served in time with the meals. Also, the cabin crew was always concerned that passengers were alright. Legroom was ok, if you're a small person, for the bigger ones not much space. There was a great choice of music, movies and games on board. Touch screen, working in all languages. Also we were able to walk around during the flight and in the kitchen you could always help yourself to a drink and some sandwiches which were available throughout the entire flight. As well as snacks being served during flight. On the return flight from Male to Colombo, flight was delayed. But we didn't have to wait and hope we would make our flight back to Frankfurt, instead we were immediately re-booked and were able to fly with Emirates to Colombo so we could make our connecting flight to Frankfurt.

SriLankan Airlines - by Kurt Müller
2 January 2006

On 29th December, my wife and I travelled on UL 196 from Delhi to Colombo. With Y class being full, we bought tickets in C class. Check-in was a breeze, but as a result of snail-pace immigration processing, we arrived at the security check 40 minutes prior to departure, joining a line of some 100 people already waiting. Our flight status on the departure information board was indicated as "Security Check", and remained so even when - 10 minutes prior to scheduled departure - UL ground staff took us from the queue and rushed us through the security check - only to be held up by a second security check on the airbridge. We boarded at 1940, i.e. the scheduled departure time, but in the end, the plane departed 20 minutes late due to other passengers stranded in the four almost endless security check lines. On board, we found ourselves in seats 3D and 3F (last row of C class), which assured us of being last in being offered a meal choice. Almost predictably, my choice was no longer available. We also found out that the seat recline in this - the last - row of the C class cabin is virtually zero. When complaining that despite having paid a full fare and my being a Skywards Gold Card Member we had obviously been handed the shortest straws, we were shown seats in the first row and my meal of choice was admirably arranged. However, I am stumped why - in a cabin with 12 seats and a load of only 8 passengers - the worst seats are allocated first, particularly to loyal and frequent customers, and why it takes passengers to complain before reasonable C-class comfort is forthcoming.

SriLankan Airlines - by Diana Illyas
8 December 2005

My husband and I traveled from Chicago to London to Sri Lanka. The London to Sri Lanka leg was traveled on Sri Lankan Airlines. After reading some of the posts on this website, we felt we made a mistake with choosing this airline. But to our surprise, we had a great experience with this airline. The staff is courteous and friendly. Even though we were in Economy Class, everything was served the Sri Lankan way, on a silver platter! Response was excellent when the call button was pressed. They were very attentive! Excellent and friendly Service!

SriLankan Airlines - by Malcolm Chapman
7 October 2005

SIN-KUL-SIN. Great for the short hop. Very cheap also and they serve a light snack, which the other carriers SQ and MH don't. Not as plastic as SQ also in economy with fake smiles et al.

SriLankan Airlines - by Steve Alley
7 October 2005

We recently travelled with Sri Lankan from LHR to CMB for our honeymoon, and I have to say overall the flights were excellent. The outward journey started very well with efficient check-in by the BA ground staff. Once onboard the friendly and efficient cabin crew did their upmost to make you feel welcome, coming round with hot towels prior to departure which is a nice touch. In-flight service was excellent, with a good bar service and superb food and plenty of it. Throughout the flight the cabin crew were constantly present, ensuring that any passenger requests were dealt with promptly and providing regular refreshments between meals. There is only one concern I have with the airline and that is regarding their safety prtocedures prior to landing.

SriLankan Airlines - by D West
9 September 2005

23rd August 2005 CMB-LHR Business Class. New A340 with forward and downward external cameras - brilliant! Food and service was excellent. Seat 2A seems to be a jinx with me (see 13th August). Video selection system didn't work after being reset 4 times, it just seems too unreliable for the use it gets and the short turnaround times at the outstations doesn't permit repairs to be attempted away from CMB for this sort of malfunction. Seats very comfortable.

SriLankan Airlines - by Freddy De Smedt
17 August 2005

Colombo - Dubai on 30/07. Check in was a complete mess and a disgrace. Overcrowded departure hall, check in lines that don't move, People very stressed about missing their flights. Complete lack of information and very unwilling check in staff. Asked staff if I was standing in the correct line. Was told twice to change lines without any reason. So I was getting late, due to extremely slow check in. Lots of passengers (even with babies) wondering in what line to stand and getting upset about this cattle style treatment. Impolite check in staff, three staff per counter. One was "working" and talking and giving orders to the others 2. Managed finally by showing my Skyward card to get checked in at business class counter (she did her job correctly, thanks). Onboard we had to wait due to late check in of passengers. Flight attendants not smiling at all except one. Good meal service with nice choice of drinks. Toilets on this 4 hour flight in very poor conditions after 2 hours. This flight was a code share flight with Emirates. Never again.

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