Srilankan airlines London to Colombo A330-300 Economy Review

On A recent trip to Colombo, Sri Lanka I had the pleasure of flying with SriLankan Airlines from London Heathrow, United Kingdom on the A330-300 Economy Class and wanted to put together a helpful review of my experience.

as a frequent flyer with Finnair, SriLankan Airlines is also apart of the One World airline alliance family and it’s always nice to try new airlines every now and then, especially if you still get to collect airmiles.

When flying with Sri Lankan Airlines You immediately feel the warmth and hospitality before you even arrive in Sri Lanka. This is through the Great service, friendly cabin crew, wonderful onboard entertainment and a cracking cup of tea.

Let me dive straight into a walk through review of my flying experience with SriLankan Airlines.

Flying Economy with SriLankan Airlines

Business class was full when I checked as spaces are limited to 28 seats and the London to Colombo service is rather popular and fills up quick. I wasn’t lucky to grab a seat on this trip but I’ve heard that flights from Bangkok or Bali offer more avalability.

In economy you will find a total of 269 seats and seat formations come in 2-4-2 and five rows at the back close to the galley come in a formation of 2-3-2. As the aircraft has a limited selection of seats it’s best to check in online 24 hours prior to flying and selecting a prefered seat. I like to use Sear Guru to help select the best economy seats with major airlines.

Do select your seat in advance and the 2 row seats by the windows fill up quickly and are prefered by travellers and many of my friends who didn’t book in advance had to opt for a middle seat which is not a great situation on a long haul flight.

I managed to get one of the last isle seats which was located at the back which was one of the three row seats. Fligh time from London to Colombo is ten hours and thirty minutes total.

A look at the SriLankan Airlines in flight food service menu

For economy class, the drink service quickly kicks into action once the aircraft is up into cruising altitude and on the drink menu you can discover a wide selection of drinks from the bar cart such as fruit juice, soft drinks, tea, coffee, Kahlúa, cognac, whisky, gin, vodka, rum and of course, local Sri Lankan arrak. A selection of international beers and wines. Each drink served comes with a packet of small bite sized cream crackers to enjoy with your drink. They love cream crackers in Sri Lanka.

Flight departure from London is around 21:00 and arrival in Colombo is around 12:00 lunch time. This is why the first food service is dinner followed by Breakfast as a wake up service a few hours before arrival.

First service menu:

I went for the pepper chicken curry option and it was a wonderful choice to choose. It had a light and spicy kick to it which was most enjoyable as an airline meal and I would recommend this option for curry lovers.

Second service menu:

More a breakfast set menu and I found the omelette to be most enjoyable, especially with the speciality Ceylon tea service.

If you would like to have a local taste of Sri Lanka before you arrive the Godama Roti is a fun option to try for breakfast.

I heard the vegetarian option from another passenger was not that enjoyable.

In-fligt entertainment options

For Economy you get a pretty large entertainment screen to enjoy a wide selection of international movies both from Bollywood and Hollywood as well as tv shows, games and music to choose a whole host of entertainment from.

This will for sure keep you busy through the whole ten hours plus flight if you don’t fancy catching any sleep.

I managed to get through some of the most recent blockbusters and a few old classics as well. Great way to pass the time.

If you wish to grab some sleep, you can. Each seat comes with a blanket and pillow to help you get some rest and the lights start to dim a few hours after dinner service to fall asleep and will lightly come back on before breakfast service.

(Night light mode to day light mode, perfect for sleeping and a feature that is a part of the A330-300 model)

If you would like to connect to some Wifi whilst up in the air you can do so with SriLankan airlines for a fee in economy class.

Possibly the best cup of tea with an airline?

Ok, this is a pretty bold statement but I think SriLankan Airlines has won the world for the best cup of tea in Economy class. It was a banging cup of tea mostly down to the fact that the tea served is a premium single origin Ceylon supreme blended tea exclusively made for SriLankan Airlines.

You can really taste the quality and difference compared with other airlines when it comes to tea.

I do love a good brew so respect to SriLankan Airlines for pulling this one together. It’s totally worth a try or two on your next flight.

Conclusion on flying with Sri Lankan airlines from London to Colombo

This was my first ever trip to Sri Lanka and I always love to try the local carrier before arriving to a new destination as your journey starts at the arrival gate and this truely is the case when flying with Sri Lankan Airlines, you can feel Sri Lanka throughout the flight.

From the polite, intentive and cabin crew staff, the quality dining and drinking experience in economy and the top entertainment sysyem the flight went along with a breeze.

Please do ensure you book your prefered seat before departure as this will truely enhance the experience and you will have a fantastic flight as you will be in good hands with the Sri Lankan Airlines staff every step of the way.

Bandaranaike International Airport / Colombo International Airport

Bandaranaike International Airport or more commonly known as Colombo International Airport is rather small to handle an international airline such as SriLankan Airlines as the airport only has one single run way.

Upon arrival to Colombo you have to take a transfer bus which is not ideal after a long flight and swapping the climates of London to tropics of Sri Lanka. Apart from the wide selection of Ceylon tea shops at the airport I found the lounge selection not to be that great and small in size.

The point I want to make is I wouldn’t want to spend too much time here on a layover at the airport due to its size. But if you want to reach and explore Sri Lanka, you wont be spending too much time at the airport any way.

Thank you for reading my SriLankan Airlines review

Thank you for passing by and checking out my SriLankan Airlines reviews. Wishing you a wonderful onwards journey to Sri Lanka and hope you have a great flying experience as well. All the best and happy travels.