vanisree vasudevan

Jul 17, 2024

Our flight UL166 from Kochi

Our flight UL166 from Kochi, scheduled to depart at 10:20 AM, was delayed until 12 PM. Consequently, we missed our connecting flight from Colombo to London. The staff later mentioned that the flight did not wait for us as other passengers on the flight would miss their connections. Does that mean our time and money are of no value? Are we traveling for free? The customer service at Colombo airport was extremely poor. We were not informed that we had missed our flight. A staff member just asked us to follow him, and we thought he was trying to expedite our transfer to the London flight. He told us we missed the flight only when I specifically asked him. The staff then nonchalantly suggested we wait until the next day's afternoon flight, offering free accommodation and travel as if this was a satisfactory solution. Don’t assume everyone will be happy to accept anything given for free. Our trip was not a leisure visit to Sri Lanka, and this unexpected delay caused us to lose over 12 hours. I was scheduled to return to work on Monday, the 15th, after a three-week holiday due to a family emergency. This disruption made it very difficult at work, as I had to negotiate additional leave. Furthermore, I was traveling with my four-year-old daughter and my elderly parents with health issues, which made the situation even more challenging. After an hour of conversation with the staff, they suggested a flight from Colombo to London via Riyadh. We had to agree to this as it was the only option available. Another solution suggested by the staff was that I could take a night flight if I had to return to work, while the rest of my family stayed until the next day due to insufficient seats. This was an unreasonable and impractical suggestion. The entire journey was made hectic due to this delay. Additionally, the food served on the Colombo to Riyadh flight was pathetic, and the flight from Kochi was untidy. This was my first and last travel experience with your airline.