Srilankan Airlines (Again) !

[yermanee]

Intrigued by Beano's topic I looked into this airline a bit further and a couple of things did spike my interest in them.

Have to admit that my opinion before was that this airline was not very reliable, and their fleet seemed to be on the oldish side of comfortable to me. I've read a few trip reports of which one fairly recent on airliners.net (http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/trip_reports/read.main/223481/) regarding their new business class configuration which seems to be on a par with many of the other airlines I've used in the past.

It's not up there with Oman Air yet, but certainly with Qatar whose aging A330's still have the sloping flat bed seats.

Food is of less importance to me since I eat very little and can live a couple of days without gourmet food, which you can't find on an airplane anyway. My biggest priority is being able to sleep and rest, since I always have a road trip of 3 to 4 hours to my final destination to cope with (rental car).

Also they don't seem to have a deal in place for BKK airport's fast track service, but that's easily remedied by booking BFS.

So at half the price of Qatar and nearly half for Oman I might want to try out Srilankan if I can be assured that their longhaul aircraft all have the new configuration. If it's a lottery I will not take the risk because of my luck with this kind of situations ( Murphy's law).

So any recent business class experience will be appreciated.

Thanks beforehand.

Yermanee

[WilliaminBKK]

Hi Yermanee, like you I was also intrigued by Beano's Sri Lankan post.

I've sent an e-mail to someone who may know if they swap aircraft between new and old configurations and report back in a day or two.

You can see they use the old style to SIN from CMB http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/trip_reports/read.main/223297/ don't want that on the long haul for sure.

The flight from Bangkok to Colombo is a continuation of an inbound flight from either Shanghai or Guangzhou could be an interesting passenger mix it is only the Shanghai-Bangkok-Colombo vv segments.

Yermanee you mention rest. The first leg is 3.5 hours to CMB departing Bangkok at 2100 with a two hour layover, by the time your settled in & eaten for your 11 flight your body clock will probably be 4am/5am BKK time, you've almost lost a nights sleep before your long haul, I guess you'll be able to catch up on rest but wouldn't want you exhausted for your drive. The return looks easier on the body.

The price they are offering plus their entry into Oneworld could make this option a really nice option for other travellers.

[yermanee]

Thanks for that William,

When you have more news please PM me.

Have found out that UL serves terminal 2 in FRA, which in itself is a blessing. Easy to navigate and short distances to cover, contrary to terminal 1 where one has to be in pretty good shape to collect one's luggage and pick up the rental car, and it's more easy traffic-wise also.

Now the Saturday flight from CMB to FRA arrives at FRA at 18:50 and with the money saved on the flight-ticket I could spent a night in one of the airport hotels with free shuttle, saves me a day car-rent plus easy Sunday traffic on the Autobahn to continue my travel.

So a lot to consider, maybe even too much ?

Again thanks William.

Yermanee

[RabC]

William

Could I ask that you post the results of your enquiry re aircraft used ex BKK so that we can all share it.

Thanks

Rab

[yermanee]

William

Could I ask that you post the results of your enquiry re aircraft used ex BKK so that we can all share it.

Thanks

Rab

Yes of course, sorry I didn't mean to exclude other members interested.

Sorry again

Yermanee

[yermanee]

Have done some digging and here's what I found out so far.

For layovers of more than 8 hours in CMB they provide hotelrooms.

Srilankan Airlines fleet has 7 A330's of which 4 have been refurbished to the new configuration. The upgraded aircraft are :

4R-ALA, 4R-ALB, 4R-ALC and 4R-ALJ.

They have 6 A340's of which 1 has been upgraded and probably one more in the pipeline.

Seemingly on-time performance has been drastically improved during the last year.

To have a better chance of flying one of the upgraded aircraft it seems that choosing a flight published to be on an A330 is the way to go.

It is for the moment not yet clear if further aircraft will be upgraded and/or replaced.

That's in short what I found out so far.

Yermanee

[beano2274]

Log onto the website for details of the destination of the month, only for economy though but huge savings. This months destination is ROME, book until 30th October, fly from 20th Oct to 31st Jan 2013

Details

• Valid on Economy Class return tickets purchased online only at www.srilankan.com
  
• Valid for tickets purchased between 20^th October, 2012 – 30^th October, 2012
  
• Applicable for return fares from the above mentioned cities to Rome
  
• The maximum stay in Rome should be one month
  
• Stopovers and combinations with other sectors are not allowed
  
• Travel to commence from 20^th October, 2012 - 31^st January, 2013
  
• Reservations will be based on availability
  
• Children and Infants receive 25% discount and infants who do not occupy a seat receive 90% discount
  
• The fares shown above are not inclusive of all taxes and surcharges, they will be collected separately as applicable and the fares are subjected to currency fluctuations
  
• Tickets are non-refundable and non-reroutable
  
• Date changes are not permitted
  
• Ticket validity extension is not permitted
  
• This offer may not be combined with any other existing offers
  
• General terms and conditions of credit/debit cards will continue to apply
  
• This offer is brought to you by SriLankan Airlines Ltd and SriLankan Airlines Ltd reserves the right to withdraw all or any of the rules applicable to the offer hereunder at any time at its sole discretion without prior notice
  

Edited October 20, 2012 by beano2274

[meatboy]

air lanka 1988 lon.heathrow to bkk,2stops,switz,colombo change aircraft,all luggage put on the tarmac then you identify,oh shit where's mine its missing,no problem will have it delivered to your hotel in bkk,they did 5days later,coming home 6hrs late leaving bkk.stop colombo have to wait 8hrs for another plane,didnt end there flight diverted to paris,6hrs wait for a flight to london.wait for it no luggage will be sent to south wales later,how late after being sent to the north of england arrived at my house 2weeks late with many items broke.the aircraft were tri-stars noisy cramped and flippin hot,would i fly with them again [you guess].ps.not a free voucher insight.

[yermanee]

air lanka 1988 lon.heathrow to bkk,2stops,switz,colombo change aircraft,all luggage put on the tarmac then you identify,oh shit where's mine its missing,no problem will have it delivered to your hotel in bkk,they did 5days later,coming home 6hrs late leaving bkk.stop colombo have to wait 8hrs for another plane,didnt end there flight diverted to paris,6hrs wait for a flight to london.wait for it no luggage will be sent to south wales later,how late after being sent to the north of england arrived at my house 2weeks late with many items broke.the aircraft were tri-stars noisy cramped and flippin hot,would i fly with them again [you guess].ps.not a free voucher insight.

That's very, very helpful !!

Thank you

Yermanee

Edited October 20, 2012 by yermanee

[beano2274]

air lanka 1988 lon.heathrow to bkk,2stops,switz,colombo change aircraft,all luggage put on the tarmac then you identify,oh shit where's mine its missing,no problem will have it delivered to your hotel in bkk,they did 5days later,coming home 6hrs late leaving bkk.stop colombo have to wait 8hrs for another plane,didnt end there flight diverted to paris,6hrs wait for a flight to london.wait for it no luggage will be sent to south wales later,how late after being sent to the north of england arrived at my house 2weeks late with many items broke.the aircraft were tri-stars noisy cramped and flippin hot,would i fly with them again [you guess].ps.not a free voucher insight.

Shame airlines have changed since 1988. Another example is Aeroflot years ago no-one wanted to use it, now it was voted the 3rd best improved airline in the world.

[meatboy]

air lanka 1988 lon.heathrow to bkk,2stops,switz,colombo change aircraft,all luggage put on the tarmac then you identify,oh shit where's mine its missing,no problem will have it delivered to your hotel in bkk,they did 5days later,coming home 6hrs late leaving bkk.stop colombo have to wait 8hrs for another plane,didnt end there flight diverted to paris,6hrs wait for a flight to london.wait for it no luggage will be sent to south wales later,how late after being sent to the north of england arrived at my house 2weeks late with many items broke.the aircraft were tri-stars noisy cramped and flippin hot,would i fly with them again [you guess].ps.not a free voucher insight.

Shame airlines have changed since 1988. Another example is Aeroflot years ago no-one wanted to use it, now it was voted the 3rd best improved airline in the world.

bloody hell in the 80's and 90's they used to call them aeroplop and guruda wasnt much better then.

[AyG]

I flew business class from BKK to LHR via CMB last week for the first (and probably last) time. To be honest, I'd taken a dislike to Sri Lankan before I flew. The website is dreadful. Couldn't select seats. Rejected my frequent flier number as invalid. Wouldn't allow online check-in. To make things worse they changed the timing of the return CMB-BKK flight so that a same day connection from London is no longer possible. I'm now going to get home a day later than booked. At least they're going to put me up in an hotel during my unexpected forced extended layover.

The cabin for the flight from BKK-CMB was pretty old fashioned. No flat beds - just reclining seats. No VOD - just a poor choice of movies, and no announcement when they started. The food was also pretty diabolical. The sweetcorn and potato cake tasted and had a texture like madeira cake. Vile. Absolutely vile.

CMB-LHR was much better. Flat beds. VOD. However, the food was equally bad. One surprise was that the flight was treated as a nighttime flight, so the cabin lights were dimmed and all the shutters down.

Despite the poor in-flight food, the food at the business class lounge in Colombo was surprisingly good. I had a large breakfast of curries and flat breads followed an hour or so later by a large lunch of more curries and rice. I felt bloated but happy.

In flight service was good, with drinks being poured with a suitably heavy hand. And all flights were on time.

Would I book Sri Lankan again? Probably not. It'll probably be back to EVA again for me next time, despite the higher price.

[yermanee]

@ AyG

Thanks for that. Confirms that it's not all sunshine and flowers.

Am leaning more and more to sticking to my trusted airline.

I've been searching and researching more details about their fleet but even their own seatplans do not reflect the refurbished aircraft, as do all the other sites regarding seatplans, they all carry the same outdated details.

I still have some time before I have to book, so will keep on eye on them for any positive change.

My thanks to all that contributed to this topic.

Yermanee

Edited October 20, 2012 by yermanee

[WilliaminBKK]

Update

I finally heard back from a mate who works for the ground handler that services UL. I asked about flat beds and if there is a guarantee or how one goes about verifying.

His response cracked me up - "Getting lie flat on all four legs is like winning the lottery" the aircraft were supposed to be all done in 2010 and LHR will still get cradle seats once a week without warning.

The only way to find out it to e-mail [email protected] & [email protected] but no guarantee as aircraft can be swapped on day of departure.

I still think there have potential of grabbing market share if they get the lie flat out system wide, since they are scheduled to join One World next year it will have to be sorted before they start code sharing.

[yermanee]

Update

I finally heard back from a mate who works for the ground handler that services UL. I asked about flat beds and if there is a guarantee or how one goes about verifying.

His response cracked me up - "Getting lie flat on all four legs is like winning the lottery" the aircraft were supposed to be all done in 2010 and LHR will still get cradle seats once a week without warning.

The only way to find out it to e-mail [email protected] & [email protected] but no guarantee as aircraft can be swapped on day of departure.

I still think there have potential of grabbing market share if they get the lie flat out system wide, since they are scheduled to join One World next year it will have to be sorted before they start code sharing.

Thanks for the update William.

Knowing my luck with lotteries I'll think I better stick to known airlines i.e. Qatar and/or Oman er even maybe Etihad who's new business class now seems to be in the mold of Oman Air i.e. 1 - 2 - 1 configuration with wider and softer seats. But that will probably be a lottery too ! Adding to that there's also the risk of ending up in an ex AirBerlin aircraft,

Anyway thanks again

Yermanee

p.s. Maybe I worry too much

Edited October 20, 2012 by yermanee

[WilliaminBKK]

Update

I finally heard back from a mate who works for the ground handler that services UL. I asked about flat beds and if there is a guarantee or how one goes about verifying.

His response cracked me up - "Getting lie flat on all four legs is like winning the lottery" the aircraft were supposed to be all done in 2010 and LHR will still get cradle seats once a week without warning.

The only way to find out it to e-mail [email protected] & [email protected] but no guarantee as aircraft can be swapped on day of departure.

I still think there have potential of grabbing market share if they get the lie flat out system wide, since they are scheduled to join One World next year it will have to be sorted before they start code sharing.

Thanks for the update William.

Knowing my luck with lotteries I'll think I better stick to known airlines i.e. Qatar and/or Oman er even maybe Etihad who's new business class now seems to be in the mold of Oman Air i.e. 1 - 2 - 1 configuration with wider and softer seats. But that will probably be a lottery too ! Adding to that there's also the risk of ending up in an ex AirBerlin aircraft,

Anyway thanks again

Yermanee

p.s. Maybe I worry too much

Call me picky - I used to like Etihad Business class but they did away with their amenity kits like SQ. I know it is only a $10 item but I like giving them away to kids. My TG & LH are my only pieces of Rimowa luggage

Qatar irritates me with those late night flights that you only get a snack on take off & full breakfast before arrival, I like a full meal and being over served no matter what the time of day but their product is truly 5 star.

Oman I think is the best cookie in the package currently, no one else offers a Business Class product with First Class seats.

Yermanee not sure your thoughts on TG, I know they are not competitive price wise however they will be using the A380 to FRA which is a really nice ride (haven't been on it yet but have done EK& SQ)

[AyG]

Just another quick gripe about Sri Lankan. I was entitled to a free limo transfer from LHR to my destination in London. I emailed them, which is the appropriate procedure according to the website. Hardly unsurprisingly given my previous experiences, I got no reply whatsoever from them and ended up taking public transport into the city.

[yermanee]

Update

I finally heard back from a mate who works for the ground handler that services UL. I asked about flat beds and if there is a guarantee or how one goes about verifying.

His response cracked me up - "Getting lie flat on all four legs is like winning the lottery" the aircraft were supposed to be all done in 2010 and LHR will still get cradle seats once a week without warning.

The only way to find out it to e-mail [email protected] & [email protected] but no guarantee as aircraft can be swapped on day of departure.

I still think there have potential of grabbing market share if they get the lie flat out system wide, since they are scheduled to join One World next year it will have to be sorted before they start code sharing.

Thanks for the update William.

Knowing my luck with lotteries I'll think I better stick to known airlines i.e. Qatar and/or Oman er even maybe Etihad who's new business class now seems to be in the mold of Oman Air i.e. 1 - 2 - 1 configuration with wider and softer seats. But that will probably be a lottery too ! Adding to that there's also the risk of ending up in an ex AirBerlin aircraft,

Anyway thanks again

Yermanee

p.s. Maybe I worry too much

Call me picky - I used to like Etihad Business class but they did away with their amenity kits like SQ. I know it is only a $10 item but I like giving them away to kids. My TG & LH are my only pieces of Rimowa luggage

Qatar irritates me with those late night flights that you only get a snack on take off & full breakfast before arrival, I like a full meal and being over served no matter what the time of day but their product is truly 5 star.

Oman I think is the best cookie in the package currently, no one else offers a Business Class product with First Class seats.

Yermanee not sure your thoughts on TG, I know they are not competitive price wise however they will be using the A380 to FRA which is a really nice ride (haven't been on it yet but have done EK& SQ)

Hi William (and others),

Firstly I have read that joining Oneworld is scheduled for late 2013 so they have a bit of time to get their service sorted..

However I'm not volunteering to be a guinea-pig

Probably by the time they'll get their fleet sorted, they will most certainly not be offering the same deals anymore.

As for A-380 aircraft, I'm not really interested, mainly because I don't like crowds and I can imagine what will happen when disembarking a full load of passengers at FRA Terminal 1, absolute chaos guaranteed!!!

As you said Oman business class is for the moment the only airline with 1 - 2 - 1 seating, divided over 2 cabins, one with 8 seats, and one with 12 seats, very intimate. Oh and the amenity kits are silk boxes with Amouage products, very nice indeed, the kids from my neighbors absolutely love them same as the very nice pajamas provided. FA service on board is impeccable, I once had a ball with 3 Thai stewardesses in the cabin being so delighted that the friendly old farang spoke Thai with them that they couldn't do enough for me. Enough said.

The only problem that I have with them is that their FFP sucks big time.

Srilankan Airlines : maybe 1 day ????

Yermanee

[alyx]

Another way to consider the matter would be to buy a couple of tickets ahead of the (supposed) announcement of Sri Lamkan joining One World as tickets may be purchased up to ten months prior to departure (I might be doing that although I have never been good at lotteries and game alike either) before fares take a hike.

[AyG]

Just to complete my trip report on Sri Lankan.

At Heathrow I was horrified that the business class lounge was Falcon (Gulf Air). No "help yourself to alcohol" here. In fact, you were made to feel like an kaffir infidel even for asking for a proper drink. The food was all middle eastern snacks. Nothing containing any proper pieces of meat - mostly fried pastries filled with ground up unidentifiable meat and strange vegetable stews. Whilst the environment was pleasant enough, and the lounge was pretty quiet, the food and drink sucked.

The aircraft was clearly an older configuration. The seats did lie flat, but were nowhere near long enough to lie down on. The entertainment system was not VOD. And, once again, the food was dire. Still, at least the alcohol was free-flowing.

On arriving In Colombo I tried to have lunch in the business class lounge, but they wouldn't let me in because my layover was longer than 10 hours. (That wasn't my fault - they are the ones who changed the schedule forcing me to be stuck in the airport until the next day.)

They provided an hotel room for my stay in the transit-side hotel. Based upon what I've read elsewhere, usually the hotel offered is off-airport. I'm not sure whether it was because I was travelling business class, or for some other reason, that I got the transit hotel. The room was spartan. There was no remote control for the TV. No nice toiletries. And the bell boy was rather too keen and pushy about getting me to exchange money for him. Still, I slept for a few hours and had a shower so that was OK.

By that time I was no longer verboten in the business class lounge. The food was good, as it had been on my previous visit. And the champagne flowed freely. No complaints here.

The final leg, CMB to BKK, started badly. The boards said the flight was boarding, so I headed to the gate. In fact, boarding didn't start for a further 45 minutes, and business class passengers were boarded last. I didn't particularly relish waiting more than an hour to get on the bus to the plane.

On the plane itself, again no VOD, and the system had been wrongly programmed, so there were no English language movies. I pointed this out, and (kudos to them) they brought me a handheld device with the correct channels programmed on it. That said, having had four flights in less than a month, and having only had the same four mainstream movies on them, the choice was less than overwhelming. Much to my shame I ended up watching "Grease".

The one bright point on the flight was the breakfast. The vegetarian option (masala dosa) was remotely edible - the first half-decent meal I'd had in the air with Sri Lankan. OK, the dosa wasn't crispy, but the filling was actually rather tasty.

I guess, to sum it up, Sri Lankan is cheap, and you get what you pay for. I won't be booking them again in a hurry.

[yermanee]

Thanks AyG,

Confirms my suspicion. I wont be booking them either.

Yermanee

[Briggsy]

Just another quick gripe about Sri Lankan. I was entitled to a free limo transfer from LHR to my destination in London. I emailed them, which is the appropriate procedure according to the website. Hardly unsurprisingly given my previous experiences, I got no reply whatsoever from them and ended up taking public transport into the city.

I am a Sri Lankan "Fly Smiles" frequent flyer. I note you said in your earlier post that you could not enter your frequent flyer number on their website. So I am not sure if you are a Sri Lankan frequent flyer or Etihad or Malaysian.

Anyway, to the point, I often have to e-mail Sri Lankan re flights or my "Fly Smiles". My experience is exactly as yours. If they can't or don't want to deal with something, they simply will not reply. This happens regularly. Often it is a promotion or freebie of some sort that the airline has promised but can't deliver on. And I am a supposedly privileged and valued Silver Tier member! It is frustrating and in the end I will walk away from them. Their London office is beyond a joke. I think it is a bloke in a house in Southall. I do not bother with this office any more. Fly Smiles is dealt with in Colombo. They are the champions of "let's ignore this customer and hope he goes away" policy.

By far the best office is Bangkok. The women who work there are very helpful. One, I think her name is Patcharee, I can't remember, is excellent. When I have been ignored 5 times or so by Colombo, she will help me out by getting directly in touch with the office manager in Colombo and sorting out my query or request.