SriLankan Airlines review by Paul Uden

Our flight was cancelled when we were in the departure lounge at Heathrow in January 2025. The reason given was "technical problems" and the engineers had worked on it, but were unable to repair the plane. As they were obliged to do they bussed us to the Sheraton and fed us breakfast and lunch whilst we waited to return to the airport. We eventually flew 24 hours later on the equivalent scheduled flight at 22:40. Because the flight was very full already we were seated in Row 37 which is right next to the toilets so we were kept awake all night by the sound of flushing and people queuing in the aisle. We contacted them immediately via email to apply for compensation which in these circumstances should be £520 each. They replied 11 or 12 days later claiming that the cancellation was partially beyond their control and so offered us $150 each which is derisory. They had caused us to miss the first day of our holiday and had changed their story. We replied to request details of what exactly was beyond their control and received no reply. A friend of ours had flown with them a couple of months earlier and the same thing happened to her and she ended up flying an indirect route with another airline. We have had two cancellations / late arrivals with Ryanair and Finnair in the past and these airlines both paid the required compensation with no hassle. After waiting the required time we complained to the CAA and within a few days received an email from SriLankan to say they had reviewed our case, changed their minds and we were due full compensation after all. Just fill out these forms and get them witnessed. We did this and were told the money would be with us in five weeks. You will not be surprised to hear it wasn't. After chasing them several times with no reaction, we were told we had supplied an invalid sort code (we hadn't). We provided some alternative account details and then they sent the money to the original account. It was yet another delaying tactic. The whole process from the flight cancellation to receiving the compensation took over six months. Friends of ours had a similar experience and accepted lower compensation which they try to fob you off with at first. The lesson here is to persevere, but we will never again fly with SriLankan Airlines after that debacle.