Trip Report: Sri Lankan Airlines Business Class
Trip Report: Sri Lankan Airlines Business Class

Trip Report: SriLankan Airlines Business Class

Sam Chui·
SriLankan AirlinesTrip ReportTrip Report Business Class

After five days in Thailand (I flew Singapore Airlines to Thailand), I travelled on SriLankan Airlines from Bangkok via Colombo to Dubai. This is a trip report on my latest SriLankan Airlines flight experience.

At Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, many shops and lounges are currently closed along with many airplanes being parked and overall the airport was very quiet.

  • people standing in front of a check-in counter
  • people in a terminal
a paper with text on it
a large airport terminal with people walking around

Miracle Lounge, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport

SriLankan Airlines Business Class passengers can use the Miracle Lounge before their flight. The lounge was quiet and it had a decent amount of food and beverage offerings, but I didn't eat as I was keeping some space in my stomach for the SriLankan Airlines infight food.

a woman wearing a mask at a reception desk
  • a room with tables and chairs
  • a room with a white table and black chairs
a room with a fridge and drinks
  • a kitchen with food on display
  • a row of silver pots on a counter
a room with chairs and tables

The whole E Pier seems dead and no flights were taking place.

a large white tunnel with a walkway and walkways

Bangkok to Colombo

The flight to Colombo from Bangkok is operated by an A321. Flight time was three hours. SriLankan Airlines currently operates only two flights a week to Bangkok, as they're short of aircraft.

a plane parked at an airport

I received a warm "Ayubowen" SriLankan welcome when I boarded the flight.

  • people sitting in the airplane
  • a group of people sitting in an airplane

In Business Class, there are 16 recliner seats. But I have to say the recline is quite deep and legroom seems to be about a 50" inch pitch, which is quite decent. My seat padding was almost gone, resulting in my feeling the "bone" of the seat under the cover.

I chose a seat in the last row of four, so I could recline without interrupting anyone.

With more airlines are now changing seats to flatbed on narrowbody airplanes, I hope SriLankan Airlines will catch up on the latest product too.

a seat in an airplane
a seat in an airplane
a woman in a blue dress and mask standing in a plane
a plate of cashews and a glass of cola on a table

There were no sanitary kits such as wipes or sanitizer available onboard.

A full lunch was served with just two choices, chicken biryani or a vegetarian option. No menu was presented.

  • a man and woman wearing face masks holding food on a tray
  • a woman wearing a face mask and gloves standing in an airplane
One tray Business Class lunch: Chicken Biryani
One tray Business Class lunch: Chicken Biryani
In economy class, a full tray of lunch is served with a choice of chicken curry or vegetarian.
In Economy Class, a full tray of lunch is served with a choice of chicken curry or vegetarian.

The flight was uneventful all the way to Colombo. We landed on time with some thunderstorm clouds building up around 20,000 ft. See the landing on my video below.

Video

Serendib Lounge, Colombo

I transited Colombo and used the Serendib Lounge of SriLankan Airlines. It has a good amount of food but the lounge is very dated. It needs an upgrade, as it hasn't changed for the last 10 years.

The ayurvedic spa is currently closed in the lounge.

people sitting in a lounge area
  • a buffet line with food on it
  • a man behind a bar
Rest area of Serendib Lounge, Sri Lankan Airlines
Rest area of Serendib Lounge, SriLankan Airlines

Colombo to Dubai

The next flight to Dubai was on SriLankan Airlines newish A330-300 with individual Business Class seating.

Ayubowen, warm welcome onboard Sri Lankan Airlines
Ayubowan, warm welcome onboard SriLankan Airlines
a seat in a plane
Sri Lankan Airlines Business Class seating 6A
SriLankan Airlines Business Class seating 6A

The flight was quite full, as many passengers were returning after a long weekend in the UAE. There is a simple menu on this flight.

  • a menu of a restaurant
  • a menu of tea on a table
a bottle of soda and a bowl of cashew nuts on a table

The food was quite simple. Both salad and dessert did not feel like Business Class quality. The barramundi fish came with a strong "fishy" taste.

a tray of food on a table
After dinner, I ordered a cup of ceylon tea, which is a signature on Sri Lankan Airlines.
After dinner I ordered a cup of Ceylon tea, which is a signature on SriLankan Airlines.

SriLankan Airlines offer Wi-Fi on their A330-300 aircraft, but the price is very high and comes with restrictions on download limits.

  • a screenshot of a phone
  • a screenshot of a phone

Check out the landing footage into Dubai on my video. We arrived on-time.

two people in the cockpit of an airplane

Video

My Verdict

My experience on SriLankan Airlines was rather average on these two flights. Here are some pros and cons.

Pros:

  • Reasonable fare in premium class, you can earn good OneWorld status credit flying on SriLankan Airlines
  • Staff are usually friendly
  • Bid for upgrade presents good opportunity to upgrade for less

Cons:

  • No Sanitizer or wipe offered on my flights. Food is rather simple. No menu on some flights
  • The lounge is quite dated in Colombo, it hasn't changed for the last 10 years since my visit in 2011
  • Beware of older A330-200 product. There are inconsistencies on the seat product

Throw Back to 2011, I flew SriLankan Airlines A340-300, they were offering a 10 choice buffet as in-flight dining!

  • a couple of women standing in an airplane
  • a trays of food on a table
Sam Chui

Sam Chui is one of the world's most established aviation and travel blogger, content creator and published author. He enjoys anything related to aviation and travel. His fascination with airplanes stemmed from visiting Kai Tak airport as a teenager. He has spent some of the happiest times of his life in the air.

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3 Responses

  1. Mr. Sam,
    Please accept my apology of the earlier comment as I am your follower with very short memory.
    Yes. I saw your earlier report from YOUR blog !

    Cheers,
    Peter

    Reply

  2. I have had serious doubt if this post is originated by Sam Chiu as I had seen the very, very close
    99.9% identical) contents from another blog ?

    Reply

  3. We ( my wife and myself) travelled in Srilankan Airline to Sydney from Colombo on the 7th December 2021. As flight was a straight flight without having a stop over unlike Singapore Airline.
    At that time Covid health guidelines were eased off.
    Anyway the Flight was very comfortable though SL airline had used an older flight at 5.00am. We had to take Airline bus to the Aircraft as it had not taken into Airbridge. Seat arrangement was 2 – 2 – 2. though it was indicated as 1-2- 1 .
    As we enter drinks were served without any orange juice. Only Apple juice . Normaly they have a big selection. Wipes Or Sanitizers were not offerd.
    Meals were served in boxes. No separate menu for selection . Vege meals were separate. No cadju nuts were offerd even on demand. Plastic cutlery was given .
    Staff was nice, helpful. But most of the things were in contrast to what we saw in Business class everytime when we travel. What we feel is that it would have been due to Covid situation. Other possibility is to reduce the expences during economic drawback. We had such an experience with SL Airline. By the way we had paid 7 lakhs each as full payment for the long trip( 14 lakhs) For the particular day, there was
    no cut rates. We hope SL airline will improve in time to come when economic situation improves.
    However present Chairman and the board are having this goal and achievement.

    Reply

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