Round The World and other travel

Flight Log: UL503

Colombo (CMB) - London Heathrow (LHR)

ABOVE: Sri Lankan Airlines is rolling out a new, state-of-the-art Business cabin in the popular 'reverse herringbone' layout

Now, finally, my patience was rewarded! After last year's disappointment following an equipment change, the scheduled Airbus A330-300 was operating this Colombo-London flight, fitted out with Sri Lankan's new business-class cabin featuring seats in so-called 'reverse herringbone' 1+2+1 layout. This seating concept is used by carriers such as American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Finnair and Qatar Airways, and the cabin configuration is widely regarded among savvy premium travellers as representing the best in international business class.


		TOP ROW: Seat 5K and the cabin view from it LEFT: Seat details and in-flight entertainment screen

On settling in, however, I quickly realised that the layout was subtly different from that used by AA: these seats were placed at less of an angle and consequently required less lateral space. The point becomes clear if you compare this picture (UL) and this one (AA) - look at the placement of the headphones in the second picture. The discrepancy may be down to differences in manufacture, or it could be a simple consequence of the fact that a Boeing 777-300ER is two feet wider than an Airbus A330-300 - or both. Whatever the underlying reason(s), the effect on the seats was very noticeable. A further difference arose from the lack of the AA-style privacy 'wings' (or blinkers?!) around the passenger's head, which made Sri Lankan's seat feel a good deal more exposed than its AA counterpart. Thankfully it did still feature the rising armrest, which could be deployed after take-off to create a little more of a cocoon effect.

Having said all that, I must emphasise that this remained a 'best practice' hard product, with every business-class seat giving direct aisle access. In particular, it was streets ahead of the standard British Airways Club World offering. I could tell from the moment I sat down that this was going to be a comfortable and enjoyable long-haul flight.

Turning now to pre-departure cabin service, the usual drinks of champagne, orange juice and water were presented. Naturally, I selected the first of these and accepted the subsequent top-up when it was offered. I declined the offer of a newspaper, and a quick visual scan of my seat area revealed that a blanket, pair of slippers, pillow, cushion, headset, pair of socks and an eyeshade were all present. A choice of hot or cold towel was given and I took the former despite the conditions visible outside. I couldn't help noticing that the towel was of good quality and beautifully scented.

At the scheduled departure time of 1pm, a flight-deck announcement informed us that the flight was intentionally being delayed for ten minutes due to favourable winds, in order to prevent an overly early arrival at London Heathrow. This was an excellent move in my opinion, as the UK's hopelessly overcrowded main airport is notoriously poor at handling early arrivals - and besides, it gave me plenty of time to enjoy my replenished glass of champagne. The expected flight time was also given as 10hrs 40mins.

We pushed back from our stand at 1309 local time and were in the air with a minimum of fuss just 11 minutes later, heading directly out over the ocean.

MAIN MEAL
*Cold Canapés*		Main Course (continued)
		Vegetarian Choice: Sweet and sour paneer, served with
*Appetizer*		vegetable fried rice and stir-fried vegetables with shiitake
Poached herb-marinated prawns & smoked salmon cream		mushrooms
cheese roll, presented with a red grape relish, julienne of
peppers and a passion-chilli dressing		*Bread Basket*
or		A selection of freshly baked breads from our bakery
Fresh vegetable salad presented with yoghurt dressing
		*Cheese*
*Main Course*		A selection of international gourmet cheeses, served with
Chicken Piccata Medallion, served with oven-roasted		crudités and crackers
mixed vegetables, tagliatelle tossed in Napolitana sauce,
and tomato concassé sprinkled with feta and Parmesan		*Fresh Fruit*
cheese		A seasonal assortment of the finest fresh fruit

Pepper Lamb Curry Sri Lankan Style, presented with		*Dessert*
spinach and dhal curry, beetroot curry, fresh bitter gourd		Trio of miniature sweet delights
salad, saffron coconut rice and papadum
		*Hot Beverages*
Trio of Seafood: pan-seared salmon, tiger prawn and		Finest Ceylon tea brewed to perfection
shoe lobster in saffron sauce, served with asparagus and		Flavoured tea selection
rösti potatoes		Freshly brewed international coffee served with a fine
		selection of chocolates

I fired up the 2010 runaway-train movie Unstoppable and supplemented my efforts to settle into the cruise phase of the flight with another glass of the Piper-Heidsieck, some ice water and a service of three cold canapés. My substantial lunch continued with the prawn-and-salmon starter, washed down with a French white, and this was followed by a pre-ordered 'Sri Lankan Special' curry main course, accompanied by a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon. Finally - or so I thought at this stage - I had the cheese and port.

I had managed to get through the whole of my first movie at this point and thought I would follow it up with Catch Me If You Can (2002), an amusing true story with some aviation interest. The dessert trolley now made an appearance and somehow I found myself accepting a portion of fresh fruit, the three mini-desserts and a cup of green tea. A little later - and a little oddly, I thought, given the time that we had already been airborne - the amenity kits were handed out. I followed my second film of the flight with a couple of episodes of The Big Bang Theory, and then had a short snooze.

* * * * *

Back in the land of the living, I watched a classic Fawlty Towers episode, simply because it was there, and then embarked on my third movie, Now You See It (2005). In no time at all, a further round of hot towels signalled the start of the second meal service.

SECOND MEAL
*Soup*		Main Course (continued)
Cream of broccoli with almond, served with garlic French		Vegetarian Choice: spinach ravioli presented on a bed of
crouton		gourmet tomato sauce, with assorted grilled vegetables
		and grated cheese
*Main Course*
Sun-dried Tomato Stuffed Chicken Breast, served with		*Bread Basket*
thyme sauce, turned carrots, steamed broccoli and		A selection of freshly baked breads from our bakery
mashed potato with olives
		*Fresh Fruit*
Hot and Cold Salad: a rich combination of cold		A seasonal assortment of the finest fresh fruit
vegetables and assorted salad leaves, topped with warm
scallops and prawns and served with a rich lemon		*Hot Beverages*
dressing		Finest Ceylon tea brewed to perfection
		Flavoured tea selection
Mini Toasted Panini Sandwich filled with spicy lamb		Freshly brewed international coffee served with a fine
and cheddar cheese, served with potato wedges, green		selection of chocolates
salad and mustard-mango mayonnaise

I had some garlic bread and the soup, followed by a so-called panini (actually a toastie). It was quite satisfying and just about right for this stage of a long flight. I watched some of America's Funniest Home Videos, which kept me entertained in a fairly mindless sort of way until another round of hot towels effectively marked the end of cabin service and the start of preparations for landing. The seat-belt signs came on with 35mins still to run, which seemed a little premature. After describing one holding circuit over East London, we landed on runway 27L at 1841 GMT and were on stand seven minutes later. The tactic of delaying our departure had worked to perfection, and a belated glance at the computerised map showed that we had travelled via Oman, the UAE, Iran, Turkey, the Black Sea, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Germany and the Netherlands.

Overall, this had been a thoroughly impressive performance by Sri Lankan Airlines - one that will live on in my memory as a most enjoyable experience. In case you didn't catch a similarly expressed opinion earlier, let me finish by saying it again. When Sri Lankan Airlines completes this roll-out, it will have leap-frogged British Airways in the league table of international business-class offerings.