Four Flights Used Three Aircraft Types, A Full Experience of This Airline’s Entire Business Class Seating

I've sorted through the photos from my recent SriLankan Airlines flights – DXB-CMB-CGK round trip. These four flights utilized three aircraft types and involved three completely different business class seats. It seems SriLankan's business class seats are essentially these three. Therefore, I thought it would be worthwhile to create a report.

330-300: 1-2-1 lie-flat seats

330-200: 2-2-2 lie-flat seats

321neo: 2-2 large bench seats

This flight had at least two lounges available at Colombo Airport – a BA Lounge, and an Airport Operations Ahlan Lounge. I visited both, and the Ahlan Lounge was pretty good, 24-hour operation, with a la carte dining service. The layout was standard, no photos were taken. The BA Lounge was deserted when I went, as the BA had just taken off.

Empty BA Lounge

BA Lounge bar

Cabin Amenities and Services

First segment: DXB-CMB – this segment used a 332, with an age of 20 years but well-maintained. I recall taking a similar three-class aircraft from them years ago, which was previously operated by Cathay Pacific. The cabin still had many traditional Chinese characters. Overall, the cabin crew service was decent. SriLankan's cabin crew differentiated their attire based on seniority, with most women wearing traditional peacock-patterned low-cut long dresses, and most were in green, with a couple of senior members in blue. The cabin manager were mostly elderly male gentlemen, wearing dark blue suits.

Second/Third segments: CMB-CGK return flights used a 321neo. The aircraft was around two years old. The 320 series neo compared to the traditional 320 (also called ceo) the main difference is the engine. neo: new engine option, ceo: current engine option. The cabin's length, width, and height were identical between the two generations. In other words, the same fuselage was used. So whenever I sat on a 320neo, or 321neo, I still categorized it as a 320 or 321.

Third segment: CMB-DXB used SriLankan's flagship aircraft, the 333. The aircraft was five years old. The business class seat was quite spacious, a 121 layout. Similar to many other airlines' 121 seats.

332: This seat design is quite unique, seemingly only found on SriLankan, as far as I've travelled.

332: The seat spacing was quite large, with a passenger load of around 50% when I was seated, and it felt very spacious.

332: When lying down, the arms felt a bit cramped, luckily there wasn't anyone next to me. I'm quite slim, but I imagine someone larger would find it difficult.

321neo: Similar to the narrow-body aircraft most common in China, the large bench seats.

333: I chose a window seat in the first row, and the space seemed slightly larger than other seats.

In-Flight Meals and Scenery

The meals were generally unremarkable, neither good nor bad. They weren't particularly sophisticated, looked average, and the taste was acceptable. I ordered Sri Lankan tea, which I suspect was over-steeped, and it was bitter, so I added half a cup of water.

332 Dinner: Menu

332 Dinner: I ordered shrimp, and when it arrived, it was a single lump, I thought I had been given the wrong order. However, the taste was okay.

321neo Outbound Lunch: Ordinary, enough to eat.

321neo Return Lunch: Almost identical to the lunch I had on the way here.

333 Dinner: Another lump.

Transit

The Serendib Lounge at Colombo CMB airport is for business class passengers only, but it's quite small, and crowded when full. The food selection was reasonably diverse.

Arrival

Overall, it was acceptable, both in terms of punctuality and service. Colombo Airport is somewhat dilapidated, but thankfully its area is small, so it doesn't take long to get to the boarding gate regardless of which gate you're at.

This article is sourced from FlyKeTean member volare