SriLankan Airlines

Customer Reviews

3 star Skytrax Rating
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Seat Comfort 12345
Staff Service 12345
Value for Money 12345
Customer rating from 652 reviews
6/10
3 star Skytrax Rating
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9/10

"Could not fault anything"

(Australia)

Trip Verified | Could not fault anything on this flight. Cabin spotless seat comfortable food was sensational with a great variety cabin crew were friendly and constantly asked if anything was required. In-flight entertainment was loaded with everything you could want to watch.
AircraftA330-300
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeBusiness Class
RouteColombo to Dubai
Date FlownMarch 2024
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
yes
6/10

"friendly and quite efficient"

(United Kingdom)

Trip Verified | The departure area at Colombo Airport is not great and was fairly crowded, but check in itself was quite efficient. There is a separate line of immigration for Business Class passengers so we were quickly through into the departure area. SriLankan Airlines Serendib is not large but seems to cope OK with the number of business class passengers and had a view over the apron, which was nice. Flight boarded on time, although some delays boarding the last few passengers meant the flight departed around 20 minutes behind schedule. Dinner was served soon after take off and my wife and I both chose the Grilled Barramundi, tasty and a generous portion. Cabin crew were friendly and quite efficient, although there was an inconsistency between the service between the two aisles. Being a daytime flight the shortcomings in SriLankan Airlines IFE are quite apparent and I struggled to find enough to keep me entertained for the 11-hour flight. The flight itself was quite smooth with only occasional turbulence causing the seat belts signs to go on, thankfully unlike some airlines, this captain didn’t forget to turn them off! Pressing of the call button for drinks was responded to very quickly so credit to the cabin crew for this. The toilets were also kept clean. Flight landed some 35 minutes late into Heathrow, however our luggage was delivered very promptly and we were out of the airport with 25 minutes of the flight touching down, must be a record for Heathrow T3. Overall, a reasonable experience with SriLankan and would be happy to fly with them again, just need a better film selection!
AircraftA330-300
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeBusiness Class
RouteColombo to London
Date FlownFebruary 2024
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
yes
7/10

"experience was not bad"

(United Kingdom)

Trip Verified | We booked our flights from LHR to Colombo and return some 6 months before travel, but having read some of the negative publicity about the airline in recent months, we worried that we may regret the decision, however by and large we were happy. Check in at Heathrow was quick and efficient, Business Class passengers get to use the BA Galleries lounge at T3, this was not busy and there was plenty of seats available. The food didn’t look that special, so didn’t bother. Flight boarded on time and departed only a few minutes behind schedule. Business Class on the A330-300 was fairly standard 1-2-1 configuration, my wife and I had selected the middle two (seats 4D and 4G) in the middle of 7 rows inthe cabin. The plane was not that new, but the cabin was clean, comfortable and the seat/bed controls all worked fine. The cabin crew were very professional and friendly, so no complaints there. Dinner was served shortly after take-off, my wife chose the fillet steak which she said was very nice, I chose the Chicken Kalupol Curry, which was very tasty. Sri Lankan serve Joseph Perrier Champagne, which was pleasant. One aspect of the flight, which was disappointing was the IFE, the choice of films was very poor. They had a large number of Christmas films showing, I get this in December, but not in February! Passing on the films, we both managed to get some sleep, before breakfast was served a couple of hours before landing. Breakfast was a bit disappointing, but this is the case with most airlines! Flight landed on schedule into Colombo BIA and we were through immigration and out of the airport with luggage in 30 minutes. In summary the Sri Lankan Airlines experience was not bad and had the great advantage of being a direct flight. Hopefully the SriLankan Airlines privatisation will go ahead and the airline will get the investment it needs to continue.
AircraftA330-300
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeBusiness Class
RouteLHR to Colombo
Date FlownFebruary 2024
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
yes
1/10

“Disgrace of a national carrier”

(Qatar)

Trip Verified | Disgrace of a national carrier. Malfunctioning seats, all 4 flights in my round trip were delayed, extremely unclean and unhygienic cabin. When customer care was emailed was sent a message they would look into it and they never got back to me.
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteDoha to Thailand via Sri Lanka
Date FlownSeptember 2023
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
8/10

"Staff all a delight"

(United Kingdom)

Trip Verified | Check in at LHR was easy and efficient. We chose to use the Cathay Pacific lounge which was excellent. Boarding of this full flight was very quick and started early. It was well organised. On board prompt welcome from both cabin crew and service director. Invited to cockpit to meet flight crew who were an absolute delight. Pre departure drinks service was good. We were ready to go 15 minutes early and pushed back from stand on time. Once airborne drinks and nuts served followed by 4 course lunch. This was all fine. Not the best meal service ever but no major deficiencies. After lunch settled back and watched some films. Slept for a while over Middle East. Lie flat is not the most comfortable but was fine. Second meal service was dinner which was a good call as airlines do this better than breakfast. I enjoyed tea mid flight. Being a major tea producing nation , Sri Lankan take a real pride in their tea service. Not only is there an expansive collection but it’s brewed well and served with flair. On time arrival into Colombo. The Serendib lounge there was adequate. On time departure to Male with excellent meal service on such a short flight together with pre departure beverages. Far better than European short haul. Overall, a good flight. Staff all a delight. Product reasonable. The aircraft are starting to age a little and this will need attention over the next 18 months or so
AircraftA330-300
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Seat TypeBusiness Class
RouteLondon to Male via Colombo
Date FlownFebruary 2024
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
yes
4/10

"cannot provide an invoice"

(Australia)

Trip Verified | I have tried multiple times to get an invoice for my travel - multiple emails, phone calls etc yet to receive a response. I do not understand why a major international airline cannot provide an invoice for travel. I went on business class and whilst the cabin crew were friendly, there really was nothing else to comment on positively.
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeBusiness Class
RouteMelbourne to Colombo
Date FlownJanuary 2024
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
3/10

“would not choose this airline again”

(Australia)

Trip Verified | Via Silk Route for business, not that silky. Luggage screened, passports/tickets verified then 45 minutes wait for boarding pass. Why so long? Finally at gate, further screening then trapped in a room with inadequate seating. Many, like us, had to sit on the floor. No water, no toilets, no communication as to why we were late boarding. At 2am not fun. Then another 30 minutes waiting before take off. 100% full business class. On board, the crew were nice, the seats narrow and when reclined the joins stuck into my back. Also noticeably only superficially clean. Very cold cabin on this return journey. The entertainment selection was not as good as the flight to Colombo. The food was ok, breakfast better than dinner. No real storage around the seat. The headphones supplied were dreadful. The toilets were not kept clean, very disappointing. I would not choose this airline again.
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeBusiness Class
RouteColombo to Melbourne
Date FlownJanuary 2024
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"quite a catastrophic experience"

(South Korea)

Not Verified | This journey turned out to be quite a catastrophic experience. Initially, SriLankan Airlines abruptly canceled our Seoul Incheon to Colombo flight just four days before departure. Attempts to reach them from Korea were futile, as they remained unresponsive to our emails sent through the website. The alternative they provided, a flight via Tokyo with a three-day delay, was impractical. Resorting to personal connections in France, I managed to secure another flight through Bangkok, but this came with no compensation, and we had to cover our hotel expenses in Bangkok ourselves. The return journey was even more distressing, with the plane experiencing significant delays and minimal information provided. At Colombo airport, the staff seemed uninformed about the situation, and they didn't offer water and food to children until we expressed our dissatisfaction assertively. If you want to safeguard your vacation, I strongly advise against choosing this airline unless you have ample time to spare in this remarkable country.
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteSeoul to Colombo
Date FlownDecember 2023
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"lateness is typical with this airline"

(United States)

Not Verified | We flew Sri Lankan Airlines from Colombo to Frankfurt on January 5, 2024. The flight left Colombo Airport almost three hours late. Although it was an 11 hour flight, they made no attempt to make up for lost time. So we arrived in Frankfurt three hours late, and as a result we missed our connecting flight to the US. There was no one from the Sri Lankan Airlines at the Frankfurt Airport to help us rebook our flight. We were completely abandoned by the Sri Lankan Airlines. Finally a kind local travel agent helped us out. Later we read that this kind of lateness is typical with this airline. We will never fly with them again!
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteColombo to Frankfurt
Date FlownJanuary 2024
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
2/10

"disgraceful lack of customer service"

(Australia)

Trip Verified | Possibly the worst managed and most inefficient airline imaginable. I flew in a party of 5 from Sydney to Colombo on xmas eve - the A330 was ageing with broken seats, mono headsets and very poor selection of entertainment options though the service in the air pleasant and helpful. Trying to change seating configuration for our return flight whilst in Colombo (no online option) was woeful with entirely uninformed ground staff and no coherent system apparent. Our return flight to Sydney via Melbourne from Colombo on Jan 5 was just about the worst flying experience you could have - initially the flight was delayed from the scheduled departure time of 00:35 to 04:30 with the flight eventually leaving at 06:00. Once again the ground staff at Colombo appeared to have little to no knowledge of process by instructing passengers that baggage would be routed directly to the final destination in Australia. The Australian requirements are abundantly clear that passengers must collect bags at the first port of entry prior to proceeding to other domestic destinations within Australia. This misinformation by sri lankan airlines staff caused unnecessary confusion for passengers. When we did finally arrive in Melbourne we were advised that there was a “tactical error” with the baggage handling and there would be a further delay (approximately 40 mins). Once we had our baggage we had to find our way to the one Sri Lankan check in desk to queue again to receive a hotel voucher as most of the flight had missed onward connecting flights. We arrived after further queuing for a transfer vehicle at the hotel to be given a voucher for $25 for dinner. By this time it was midnight in Melbourne with no restaurant open in the hotel to get food. We then had to get up and check out of the hotel at 4am to get our flight to Sydney - this was too early to use the voucher for breakfast so the end result was no food was provided to passengers. We finally boarded our Qantas flight to Sydney at 6am on Saturday 6 January. Sri Lankan airlines should be ashamed of their disgraceful lack of customer service, the complete absence of any accurate information and the alarming level of obvious inefficiency and ineptitude in their operations management. Finally when I enquired about the airline’s performance noting that every Sri Lankan flight from Australia to Sri Lanka in the preceding week was delayed, I was informed that it was due to “procedural issues”. This airline has no capacity to operate on an international stage and should be avoided at all costs.
AircraftA330
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteColombo to Sydney via Melbourne
Date FlownJanuary 2024
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no