SriLankan Airlines

Male-Colombo-LHR We were on the awful flight on 29 Nov. We were only told the night before our direct flight to LHR that we were to be diverted via Colombo and we had to do our own phone calls to arrange our return flight. What made the journey more tedious was that at the Colombo boarding gate we were all searched even ladies rubber flip flops were checked. The passengers were getting very angry with the lack of information being given and were told time after time the delay was due to operational reasons. Not the truth that the Sri Lankan President was too rude to get to the plane on time and that we could all wait for him!! Never travel with this grotty airline as they have no customer service at all.

Male-LHR via Colombo. Having booked direct flights both ways we were dismayed to be informed 3 days before the end of our holiday that our direct flight from Male to LHR was cancelled and we had to fly back via Colombo. This meant starting 3 hours earlier to get to Colombo. On arrival at Colombo our flight showed 'check-in' but no departure time. No one at the SriLankan Airlines desk and eventually heard a rumour we were delayed awaiting a VIP. All this time our aircraft was ready at its departure gate and never found a SriLankan Airlines rep to explain the delay. We were called for boarding 1.5 hours late and then sat on the aircraft for a further hour with no explanation. After anger levels getting pretty high the captain came on to apologise for the delay due to operational reasons. (Plane surrounded by armed army personnel). Eventually 2 helicopters arrived and disgorged said VIP - President of Sri Lanka on his way to UK . So 6 hours added to an already tedious journey with just one weak apology. We will never fly with this airline again.

Paris-Male via Colombo. Service nice and efficient. Seats are a bit old in business food is good. IFE is dated but is okay. Plane clean crew smiling and friendly.

Travelled from Colombo to the Maldives. It took over an hour to check in. Staff unhelpful and was constantly hit with the cart as it passed up and down the aisle. Very cramped seats. Luckily I was on a different carrier on the way back.

Heathrow to Male return in business. We don't need fancy IFE just space and we were impressed. The limo pick up from home is an excellent way to start a holiday. Service was excellent both ways staff very good and dealt with the children in our cabin very well. Limo pick up to home was good too.

We flew from Heathrow to Male and back - believe the negative reviews you read here! Firstly the airline only has two long haul A340-300's running this route both pretty tired looking planes though one of them seemed slightly better than the other. Inflight entertainment is a complete joke - didn't work on the way out or back (thankfully due to reviews on this website I had bought myself a Sony PSP to keep me entertained). Staff seemed pretty miserable and disinterested in helping (I asked twice for them to reset my screen and was ignored both times - also took them an age to clear trays from the seats - this after one of the stewardesses had kicked my tray as I had put it on the floor as far out of the way as possible and she managed to scatter the contents. Rather than pick it up she pushed it back under my seat - hence I cleared it away myself. Overall very disappointing and I shall make a determined effort never to use this airline again.

We flew SriLankan Airlines to Male from London on and were due to fly back on 31st Oct from Male. Our experience with them was a disaster from start to finish. We checked in 3 hours before the outward flight to find our online booked seats were not available the flight was overbooked and they were trying to bump people off we had to sit far apart on the plane - row 50 and 24 - not a great way to start a romantic week away. The flight entertainment did not work on many of the seats flight was delayed service and the food were both awful. We complained at Heathrow and got the Service manager from Sri Lanka that night to at least make sure we had seats together for the return journey. We tried to check in for the return flight on the 31st to find we had been bumped off the flight - apparently due to overbooking. We were told there was nothing they could do. To cut a long story short we got them to pay to re route us via Qatar but despite promises of many things ended up being stranded in Doha airport for 8 hours without accommodation before being able to get a return flight to London. It took us 37 hours to get home on a journey that should have taken no more than 14 hours door to door and caused us great distress and inconvenience. SriLankan Airlines are a dreadful

Kuala Lumpur to London Heathrow with a stopover in Colombo. Colombo to London was delayed for 4 hours for reasons unclear and unexplained by the airline. We had to be seated in the plane for approx 15 min. without aircon which caused feelings of sickness. After asking one of the crew members to switch on the air con we were told that it would be working after the plane reached a certain height. Flight security demonstrations on the TV screens stopped due to a "power loss" which was the explanation given by one of the crew members over the speakers. We were scared to fly after this announcement! Due to the 4 hours delay of the flight we lost our connection flight. We went to the counter of Sri Lankan Airlines at Heathrow Airport to ask them for refund or an alternative flight but for one hour no one came. After all that waiting at the counter the man who finally showed up just informed us that he could not do anything for us. He did not even offer us a meal or a refreshment after all this time waiting. We had to book a complete new flight to reach Barcelona and spent a night at the airport in London.

London Heathrow to Male via Colombo on an A340. Business class full so went for Premium Economy at £50 a head - remarkable value for money. Food tasty and no complaints. IFE is a bit basic but expecting that. Legroom perfectly adequate. Colombo to Male economy class only a short flight on A340 so cannot really comment on the food. I am glad I upgraded to Premium economy on the flight out as normal economy was a bit cramped. Male to London got an upgrade to business class and well worth the £600 it cost. Food superb and lots of it angled flat seats. On all flights the crew were very good bordering on excellent. Flights all on time and no complaints about baggage. All in all a very pleasant experience.

LHR-CMB-LHR. Our honeymoon started with a 4hr delay during the time the crew did not update us and we were left at LHR whilst everything closed without being able to buy drinks or even knowing if the flight would still leave. When we finally boarded at 2am crew did not even apologise! Staff unfriendly food was below average and the entertainment system was bad too. On the way back we again had 2 hr delay and crew did not feel that this was worth an apology! The same movies were played on the way back as on the way there and food was poor again.