Getting there & away
Flights, tours and rail tickets can be booked online through Lonely Planet; see www.lonelyplanet.com/travel_services.
Contents
Travel documents
Passport
You must have your passport with you all the time in Sri Lanka; it is the most basic travel document. Before leaving home, check that it will be valid for the entire period you intend to remain overseas.
Tickets
The plane ticket will probably be the most expensive item in your trip budget. Some of the cheapest tickets have to be bought months in advance and popular flights sell out quickly.
Colombo is not as good as some other Asian centres for cheap flights, and you may be better off booking your onward tickets before you leave home.
The airport no longer charges a separate departure tax.
Sea
Plans to resume ferry services between Mannar and India come and go with the tide. Any schemes to relaunch the route must wait until the ports are repaired, however, so check with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (www.slpa.lk) for the latest information.
A passenger-ferry service between Tuticorin (Tamil Nadu) and Colombo has also been on the drawing board for some years, but has still not materialised. There has also been talk of ferry services between Chennai and Colombo, and Kochi and Colombo, but no plans have yet come to fruition.
Entering the destination
Entering the country
Immigration at Bandaranaike International Airport is a straightforward matter of handing your passport over to officials, who will check your visa and stamp your passport with an exit date.
Air
Airports & airlines
The only international airport in Sri Lanka is Bandaranaike International Airport (airport code CMB; 011-225 2861) at Katunayake, 30km north of Colombo. There are 24-hour money-changing facilities in the arrivals and departures halls. The travel desks in the arrivals hall often have discounts for midrange and top-end hotels in Negombo and Colombo; you may well be offered a 10- or 20-day package with hotel, van and driver on the spot. There are also bank counters, a few duty-free shops and a cafeteria in the departures lounge, but prices are high.
Sri Lanka isn’t quite on the A list for major airlines. Of the bigger European carriers, only Lufthansa flies there. Most of the airlines flying between Europe and Sri Lanka are from the Middle East. A better range of airlines flies between Sri Lanka and Asia (with connections elsewhere).
It’s worth reconfirming flights 72 hours in advance in Sri Lanka, as the country is a turning point for flights. Sometimes if a 200-seat plane is scheduled to fly to Sri Lanka but only 80 seats are full, an airline will send a 120-seat plane instead. If there are 200 or so passengers waiting to leave Sri Lanka on that plane, difficulties arise. The passengers who have reconfirmed stand a better chance of leaving Sri Lanka as planned. Absolutely, definitely reconfirm if you’re flying with national carrier SriLankan Airlines, as they’re notorious for bumping passengers who fail to do so. You’ll need the flight number plus a contact address.
Airlines flying to & from Sri Lanka
All the phone numbers listed below are for the airlines’ Colombo offices; add 011 if calling from elsewhere.
Austrian Airlines (code OS; 272 5555; www.aua.com; hub Vienna)
CathayPacific (code CK; 233 4145; www.cathaypacific.com; hub Hong Kong)
Condor Airlines (code DE; 232 9804; www.condor.com; hub Frankfurt)
Czech Airlines (code OK; 234 2941; www.csa.cz/en; hub Prague)
Emirates (code EK; 230 0200; www.emirates.com; hub Dubai)
Etihad Airways (code EY; 476 6500; www.etihadairways.com; hub Abu Dhabi)
Indian Airlines (code IC; 232 6844; www.indian-airlines.nic; hub New Delhi)
KuwaitAirways (code KU; 244 5531; www.kuwait-airways.com; hub Kuwait City)
LTU International Airways (code LT; 473 1366; www.ltu.com; hub Düsseldorf)
MalaysiaAirlines (code MH; 234 2291; www.malaysia-airlines.com; hub Subang Jaya)
QatarAirlines (code QR; 452 5726; www.qatarairways.com; hub Doha)
Royal Jordanian (code RJ; 230 1626; www.rja.com.jo; hub Amman)
SingaporeAirlines (code SQ; 230 0750; www.singaporeair.com; hub Singapore)
SriLankan Airlines (code UL; 242 1161; www.srilankan.lk; hub Colombo)
Thai Airways (code TG; 244 7332; www.thaiair.com; hub Bangkok)
India
SriLankan Airlines flies twice daily between Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) in Kerala and Colombo. One-way/return fares start at US$119/238. Travelling to Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) in Tamil Nadu costs only slightly more, and there are three weekly flights. Other destinations include Bodhgaya in the northern state of Bihar, and Bangalore in Karnataka. Indian Airlines and SriLankan Airlines have flights between Colombo and Chennai (Madras) for US$155/293 one way/return.
If you’re looking for a travel agent in India, STIC Travels (www.stictravel.com; Chennai044-2433 0211; Delhi011-2332 0239; Mumbai022-2218 1431) is recommended.
Maldives
Many visitors combine a visit to Sri Lanka with a trip to the Maldives. One-way/return fares on SriLankan Airlines flights between Colombo and Male cost US$143/269.
Singapore
The best airfares from Singapore to Colombo are usually with Emirates, at around US$254. SriLankan Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines and Thai Airways also fly from Singapore to Colombo (either nonstop or with a stop in Kuala Lumpur) for somewhat higher fares.
Thailand
A Bangkok–Colombo return flight costs US$511 on Thai Airways, SriLankan Airlines, Cathay Pacific or Malaysia Airlines. One-way flights are not much cheaper.
Australia
SriLankan Airlines’ return fares from Sydney are around A$1690, while other airlines cost a bit more. Return fares from Perth cost at least 25% more; Emirates and SriLankan Airlines typically have the best prices.
Flight Centre (133 133; www.flightcentre.com.au) and STA Travel (1300 733 035; www.statravel.com.au) have offices throughout Australia. Check the Yellow Pages and major newspapers for other travel agencies.
Canada
The Globe & Mail, Toronto Star, Montreal Gazette and Vancouver Sun carry travel agency ads and are good places to look for cheap fares. Travel CUTS (866-246 9762; www.travelcuts.com) is Canada’s national student travel agency. For online bookings try www.expedia.ca and www.travelocity.ca.
The cheapest return fares for nonstop flights between Vancouver and Colombo start at C$2824 with Cathay Pacific and SriLankan Airlines. Eastern Canada is about as far you can get from Sri Lanka; Cathay Pacific has fares starting from C$3438, with a stop in Hong Kong.
Continental Europe
SriLankan Airlines flies from London to Colombo daily. The main European carriers with flights to Sri Lanka are Czech Airlines (twice weekly from Prague via Dubai) and Austrian Airlines (a seasonal schedule from Vienna, peaking with two or three flights a week around New Year).
France
SriLankan Airlines has two flights a week between Paris and Colombo. Return flights range in price from €800 to €850.
France has a network of travel agencies that can supply discount tickets to travellers of all ages. Recommended agencies include the following:
Anyway (08 92 30 23 01; www.anyway.fr in French)
Lastminute (08 99 78 50 00; www.lastminute.fr in French)
Nouvelles Frontières (08 25 00 07 47; www.nouvelles-frontieres.fr in French)
OTU Voyages (01 55 82 32 32; www.otu.fr in French) Agency specialising in students and young people.
Voyageurs du Monde (08 92 68 83 63; www.vdm.com)
Germany
SriLankan Airlines has two weekly flights between Frankfurt and Colombo. Return flights start at €1365. German charter companies with seasonal flights include Condor Airlines (from Frankfurt) and LTU International Airways (from Munich and Frankfurt).
The following travel agencies have been recommended:
Expedia (01805 007 143; www.expedia.de in German)
Just Travel (089-747 3330; www.justtravel.de)
Lastminute (01805 284 366; www.lastminute.de in German)
STA Travel (06974-303 292; www.statravel.de in German)
New Zealand
Both Flight Centre (0800 243 544; www.flight centre.co.nz) and STA Travel (0508 782 782; www.statravel.co.nz) have branches throughout the country. A website recommended for online bookings is www.travel.co.nz.
An Auckland–Colombo return flight with Emirates Airlines or SriLankan Airlines should cost around NZ$1700.
UK & Ireland
Discount air travel is big business in London. Advertisements for many agencies appear in the travel pages of the weekend broadsheet newspapers, in Time Out and the Evening Standard, and in the free magazine TNT.
Fares from London to Colombo start at UK£613 return. Emirates, Czech Airlines and Royal Jordanian all have consistently cheap fares. In addition, SriLankan Airlines flies from London to Colombo daily.
Major travel agencies in the UK include the following:
Flight Centre (0870 499 0040; www.flightcentre.co.uk)
Flightbookers (0800 082 3000; www.ebookers.com)
North-South Travel (01245-608 291; www.northsouthtravel.co.uk)
Quest Travel (0870 442 3542; www.questtravel.com)
STA Travel (0870 630 026; www.statravel.co.uk)
Trailfinders (0845 058 5858; www.trailfinders.co.uk)
Travel Bag (0800 082 5000; www.travelbag.co.uk)
USA
The New York Times, LA Times, Chicago Tribune and San Francisco Chronicle all have weekly travel sections where you’ll find any number of travel agency ads. San Francisco is the discount-ticket capital of America, although some good deals can be found in Los Angeles, New York and other big cities.
A return New York–Colombo flight with SriLankan Airlines or Cathay Pacific costs around US$1650; on Emirates, fares can be as low as US$1390. From Los Angeles, you’ll pay US$1370 for a flight with Cathay Pacific (via Hong Kong) or SriLankan Airlines (via Bangkok).
The following sites are recommended for online bookings:
Avia Travel (800 950 2842; www.aviatravel.com)
Cheap Tickets (312-260 8100; www.cheaptickets.com)
Expedia (www.expedia.com)
Lowestfare.com (www.lowestfare.com)
Sri Lanka
Advertisement
Advertisement
