SriLankan Airlines

I bought a round-trip flight from Rome (Italy) to Male (Maldives) four legs (change in Colombo Sri Lanka). FCO-CMB: the seats immediately appeared old and not really clean. Each seat had a display which definition was extremely poor and despite the in-flight guide told that there were a couple of movies in Italian I didn't find them. I asked a cabin attendant and the answer was "I'm afraid that there are no movies in Italian". The available space was average enough comfortable and the food had a good taste. The only positive aspects: good to have metal cutlery and bar always opened. At the duty free they didn't have the cigarettes I asked for (even in the catalogue). CMB-MLE: short flight on a pretty new aircraft but the temperature was set extremely cold despite many passengers asked for increasing it no results. MLE-CMB: 1.5 hour delay trip acceptable. CMB-FCO: 5 hours of lately announced delay about 6 real hours until the effective departure time. Tens of passengers waiting for the opening of the waiting room sitting on a few chairs and on the floor (it was 5 am local time). They opened it about half an hour later that the announced boarding time. Again old-looking seats but better displays with movies in Italian. The displays however seemed not to be originally "built-in" the seats and the inclination was not wide enough per a perfect view. I needed a glass of water to take a medicine and I had to ring the cabin assistants 8 times before to have their attention. The only reason why I booked with SriLankan was the saving of about 150 EUR per ticket but after such a bad experience I will never travel with them anymore preferring to spend more with other companies.

Appalled by attitude and service - family of 5 with children with pre-booked flight back from Colombo to Heathrow - were told on arrival our flight was overbooked so we would need to be put on next flight with no apology or compensation - manager reported they routinely overbook their planes!

I only gave 2 instead of 1 for comfort as the way back to UK we had a little more space but the way there was horrendous I have flown a lot but never experienced being so squashed on a flight. The staff were ok service was very slow I was hungry by the time the second meal came. I asked on the way to Colombo if someone could fix the entertainment system which had a very limited selection of films and twice was ignored exactly the same thing happened on the way back to UK. The food was revolting fish was dry deserts had no substance and cakes tasted like jelly. It took an hour and a half to retrieve our baggage from the baggage reclaim in Colombo. Also on the way back to UK the flight was delayed 3 hours times kept on changing people waiting for hours not knowing what was going on. No one apologised or explained why we had the delay at any stage.

Travelled Business Class SIN-CMB-FRA return. A320 SIN-CMB-SIN fairly standard narrow body seating with limited recline and without footrests. A330 CMB-FRA-CMB seating an old version of 'lie flat' but quite comfortable (new A330-300 has modern seating). Service on all but the last sector was excellent - the Purser on that flight seemed to have missed the 'smiles' slogan. Food was very high standard with a good selection of choices. Passenger entertainment system is dated but adequate. Punctuality was excellent. Lounges in SIN and CMB excellent - at FRA (JAL Oneworld) less so. During a long transit of CMB airline accomodated us at a very good off airport hotel - system worked well. Overall a very satisfying experience and would travel with Sri Lankan Business Class again.

BKK-CMB on an A320. Was marginally better than my CMB-MLE flight last year. Half of the crew friendly and talkative other half very distanced and did the minimal tasks required of them. Got an emergency exit row and so very happy with seat space and comfort. IFE on demand and had a pretty satisfactory list of entertainment options. The food was surprisingly (based on my Maldives flight) the best aspect of the journey - an almost perfectly cooked breakfast. Flight departed 10 minutes late but caught up for lost time in the air. Baggage came out well timed.

Delhi to Colombo and few days later Colombo to London in economy with 2 year old twins. Excellent experience. DEL-CMB was a new A320 with AVOD personal screens. Full flight. Crew were friendly and professional. Food was good. CMB-LHR was an older A330 but with a refreshed cabin also with a new large screen AVOD system. Handling of kids was excellent with juice and cookies on boarding strollers delivered to the ramp etc. 2 full meals served professionally (e.g. allowing us to feed the kids first before coming back to serve us when we were ready). The bathrooms were clean and well stocked with toothbrushes etc. The crew were friendly with the kids and attentive whenever one cried or some food was dropped. They were courteous and also quite stylish and well groomed. The sari uniform and peacock theme throughout the cabin gives some personality to the airline. I would say they have better service than Emirates (although less gimmicks). Certainly better than any European carrier I have taken recently in economy.

I flew Dubai to Bangkok via Colombo and return - Business class. Three legs on Airbus A330 and one on Airbus A321 and I found all aircraft cabins to look a bit tired. All flights on time except the first leg Dubai-Colombo about 40min late. However this first leg was the most pleasant flight - very friendly and welcoming crew they were eager to please and handled very well a group of 4 passengers in Business class who were being loud and drinking too much. On the other 3 legs the crew varied from "not so friendly" to friendly but unprofessional. The food was tasty and portions quite generous I had my champagne glass topped up without asking! Their inflight entertainment was not the best but that didn't bother me personally as I have my own tablet. The headphones and blankets are not really premium quality just the same as in economy class. Even though the toilets were kept clean and fresh on all 4 legs I found the cabins were not very clean. On the return from Bangkok to Dubai I had a 18hr layover in Colombo and SriLankan provided a car and a room at an airport hotel. The lounge at Colombo airport was OK nothing special but pleasant enough.

AUH-CMB-AUH. 90min late departure outgoing due to 'congestion'. I have read previous reports with comments of late departure. Inflight entertainment and food okay. Full flight due to UAE holidays. Return flight - no IFE for 4.5 hr trip. Food okay. Flight okay but only compliant is uncomfortable seating.

CMB-HKG. This looked like the oldest plane I ever travelled on. An A340 which was in a shabby condition. To my surprise all seats had entertainment screens but that 5 inch screen looked like the old television sets of seventies and only 4 or 5 video channels and 5-6 audio channels. The seats were old but spacious as its configuration was 2-4-2 which is rare in newer widebody planes. It had plenty of leg room. The food was average to poor. On first leg CMB-BKK they served breakfast with juices. On second leg BKK-HKG they served lunch but no drinks. The lunch was as bad as the breakfast. No special meal request taken care of. Hope they improve the food services although I find the onboard staff courteous and helpful.

Flew from LHR to CMB and onwards to MLE on 7/11/14 and back 14/11/14 all in Economy. Outgoing flight A332 seat was uncomfortable - had to sit on the blanket to smooth out the lumps and the in flight entertainment screen was poor. The cabin staff were hard working and attentive. Flight probably 80% full. The A320 for the onward flight to MLE was more spacious and comfortable. Both legs of the return flight were much better. MLE to CMB A343 flight was full but still OK with full inflight entertainment. CMB to LHR in a recently re-furbished A332 which was much better than the outward flight. Lucky to move a front/bulkhead seat with plenty of leg room. Excellent choice of inflight entertainment and hard working and attentive cabin staff. Each flight departed and arrived in good time. Overall would use SriLankan Airlines again but would hope to avoid the remaining old tired rolling stock.