Sri Lankan Airlines – Business Class (Airbus A330-300)

Introduction

This is my review of Sri Lankan Airlines’ Business Class seat, offered on their A330-300.

The A330 is Sri Lankan Airline’s biggest plane and somewhat of a workhorse for Sri Lankan’s furthest international routes. I was flying on it from Colombo to London.  

Seemingly, Sri Lankan offer three types of Business Class seat across their A320, A330-200 and A330-300 aircraft.

The A330-300 offers a full flatbed seating, and is a comfortable option when flying long-haul…..and I was flying on fairly long flight!

The Business Class seat is also reminiscent of the American Airlines old A330’s, which were acquired when American bought US Airways.  

The Layout

Business Class in the A330-300 is in a 1-2-1 format, with a total of 28 Business Class seats in the cabin.

The good news is that all the seats have aisle access, and there is no hopping your neighbours’ feet!   

As I’ve written in my A320 and A330-200 reviews, the seats do look a bit dated.

Privacy

As far as sitting in 3A went, it was fairly private.

The layout of the cabin is offset, so the neighbouring seat sits forward or backward – not awkwardness here!

With that said, if you are in ‘middle twos’, I couldn’t see that there was any divider – so it’s definitely a couples seat!

The Seat

I found the seat very comfortable for both sitting in and sleeping in flatbed mode.

Controls for the seat sit the side console. Sadly, as the image shows, the control had seemingly taking a battering and the labelling was starting to fade.

That in no way affected the operation of the seat, which was very good for both sitting/working in and sleeping in.

In flatbed mode, I found the seat very comfortable, I was able to make some minor adjustments, as I don’t sleep completely flat.  

Table

The table launches from the ‘side console’. Unfortunately, there are no backwards or forwards adjustments.

The table does sort of fold inwards at an angle for toilet breaks – but if you’ve a laptop or meal tray, you’re need to remove it.

I also felt that the table was on the small side, and that the table offered on the A330-200 was bigger. I may be wrong – I didn’t measure it!

For eating and working, the table is quite comfortable!  

Storage

Unfortunately, I didn’t find the storage that impressive.

There is a side console, but that is wholly impractical for storing a laptop for takeoff or landing – my laptop is multiple times bigger than it!

Under the side console there is a sort of shelf, but it’s not very deep, and any turbulence easily knocks items off it.

On the right of the seat there is a pocket, which has the aircraft’s safety information in it – but missing anywhere to put something bigger than a bottle of water.

Unfortunately that it is!

It is also noteworthy that the A330 series have much smaller overhead storage bins than the Boeing 787/777 series – though storage was ample in this cabin.

Charging/Power

On the side of the seat next to the entertainment control there is a single USB socket, which is also where the headphones are plugged into.

Under the USB socket panel is a UK/Euro/US mains socket. 

Air Circulation

I was glad to have nozzles above my seat, as the cabin was kept at a very warm temperature!

Conclusion

This is a very comfortable way to fly 12 hours. It has to be!

Is it as good as BA’s Club Suite, Americans’ Flagship or Qatar’s Q-Suite? Unfortunately not.

It is dated; In think probably Sri Lankan Airlines need to update their Business Class offerings across all their A320 and A330 fleet – but it’s not cheap, and Sri Lankan is a modest-sized airline!

Would I fly in this seat again on another 11-hour flight? For sure!