Trip Report: SriLankan Airlines, Colombo to Pakistan (September 2019)

Trip Report: SriLankan Airlines, Colombo to Pakistan
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I needed to travel from Colombo to Pakistan and there were a couple of options available - either through the Middle East, through Southeast Asia, or direct flights.  The direct option was the best in terms of overall flight times as well as the flight schedule worked for my schedule.  SriLankan is a part of the oneworld alliance so I used AAdvantage points to book my flight.  I booked my flight on American's website and then I called SriLankan to confirm the details and to get the SriLankan confirmation, but this seemed more difficult than it needed to be.  After speaking to two different agents at SriLankan, as well as emailing them, I gave up and worked with an American Airlines agent who provided me the information.  With my SriLankan reservation number, I was able to go online and modify my reservation, select my seat assignment, as well as select any special meals.

The SriLankan flight from Colombo to Karachi operates 5x's a week and departs Colombo at 12:20pm and arrives into Karachi at 3:20pm for an estimated flight time of 3hr 30min.  24hours prior to my flight I was able to checkin via the website, and confirm my preselected seat assignment.   My flight was scheduled at 12:20pm, but there is a lot of security checkpoints at Colombo International so I was advised to get to the airport 3hours ahead of schedule; in the end, there was a lot of waiting around as security and immigration were extremely quick.  Even though the flight was not scheduled until 12:20pm, at 10am they started announcing for passengers to go through security at the gate even though after security there is nothing to do but sit and wait for the flight which we did until proper boarding happened at 11:15am.  Boarding was supposed to happen in groups and by sections, but many passengers were not listening to the airlines instructions and the airline staff eventually gave up and just let everyone board at the same time. 

The operating aircraft for the flight was an Airbus A321 with a 2-2 seat configuration in business class and a 3-3 seat configuration in economy class.  The seat itself had a seatback PTV with a headphone jack and USB port, a full tray table, a pocket underneath which contained the airline magazine and the safety card, and there was a pillow on each seat.  The seat itself was generally comfortable and both the seat pitch and width were comfortable, especially for this short flight.  Once boarding was complete, there were some empty seats in the front so passengers were allowed to move around to more comfortable seats.  Once pushback started, a safety video was shown and then we taxied to the runway and took off for Karachi.

Once we reached cruising altitude, the inflight service commenced with lunch and drinks.  I had

preordered a special meal and that was delivered along with the regular meals - and the meal consisted of a main dish, a salad, and dessert.  While the quantity was fine, especially for this mid-range flight, the quality of the food was a bit subpar and it was the only disappointing thing on the flight.  Tea and coffee were also provided after the meal service and then once the trays were cleared, it was up to the individual passenger how they wanted to spend their time.  Some slept, some read, while others watched movies or TV shows on the PTV screens.  The selection was decent but a bit limited so I was not sure if this was their full range of videos or if they had limited it given the short flight time (because it was enough for this flight time but definitely would not be enough for their longer flights to London).  For the remaining flight, the FA's mostly stayed in the back and never walked through the cabin so if you needed anything you did have to walk to the back; they were responsive to FA call buttons.  After a while, we started our descent into Karachi and landed on time and quickly taxied to the gate.  

Overall, I was impressed with my flight with SriLankan.  I have been trying to fly with this airline for about 5 years but always one thing would happen and I would not have the opportunity.  I finally got the opportunity and they are an impressive mid-range airline.  They operate a mid-range number of flights and given their range and destination of flights I think they offer a good service with competitive rates and good amenities.  The seat was nice, the onboard amenities such as USB port and PTV screens was nice, and a complimentary meal was provided.  The negatives were the poor quality of the food, the limited entertainment selections, and the long waiting time in Colombo.  Based on this experience, I would definitely choose to fly with SriLankan in the future.