Applying for a tourist visa is a simple and straightforward process. This can be done online on the Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) system.
The application is simple and straightforward and the visa fee is very reasonable (c.US$20 – US$50, GBP40).
It should take around 3 working days to process the tourist visa.
Note that the ETA is not a pre-condition to board a flight/vessel to Sri Lanka.
Bona-fide tourists who arrive in Sri Lanka without an ETA reference number would be issued visas on arrival upon payment of the relevant ETA processing fee. Your passport needs to be valid for a minimum of 6 months.
If there is any difficulty in accessing ETA System, visitors could obtain visa in person from Sri Lanka High Commission or by post prior to travel.
Flights
Please note that we do not sell flights – there is a fundamental reason for this. We believe and are quite confident that you can purchase your flights cheaper direct from the airlines themselves or online portals such as netflights.com, expedia.com or lastminute.com. We do not believe in adding a margin and charging this to the customer as an all-inclusive package.
The following airlines operate flights to Sri Lanka:
For flights from the UK.
Sri Lankan Airlines
This is the national carrier and operates direct flights to many destinations in the world.
These include: Abu Dhabi, Bangkok, Beijing, Bangalore, Chennai, Dammam, Delhi, Doha, Dubai, Frankfurt, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Jeddah, Karachi, Kochi, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, London-Heathrow, Malé, Moscow, Mumbai, Muscat, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Riyadh, Rome-Fiumicino, Shanghai-Pudong, Singapore and Tokyo-Narita
Global flight routes – http://www.srilankan.com/en_uk/plan-and-book/flight-routes
Emirates Airlines
Emirates Airlines operates regular flights to Colombo, from Dubai and Singapore.
Cathay Pacific
Cathay Pacific operates regular flights to Colombo from Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok.
Qatar Airways
Qatar Airways operates regular flights from to Colombo, usually via Doha.
Singapore Airlines
Singapore Airlines operates direct flights to Colombo from Singapore
Etihad Airways
Etihad Airways operates regular flights to Colombo, usually via Abu Dhabi.
Jet Airways
Jet Airways operates direct flights to Colombo from Chennai and Mumbai
Air Asia
Air Asia operates direct flights to Colombo from Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian Airlines
Malaysian Airlines operates direct flights to Colombo from Kuala Lumpu
Other airlines operating flights to Colombo include Royal Jordanian, Saudi Airways, Gulf Air, FlyDubai, Kuwait Airways, Korean Air, Spice Jet, Oman Air, Thai Airways, Tiger Airways.
Flights from London
Sri Lankan Airlines
Sri Lankan Airlines operate direct flights from London to Colombo 7 days a week. Direct flights are approximately 10-11 hours in duration.
Sri Lankan Airlines has good codeshare connections to Colombo via Heathrow T4 with British Midland and British Airways from Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Leeds Bradford, Teesside, Belfast and Dublin (Ireland).
Tel: +44 (0)330 808 0800 (Direct ticketing line)
British Airways
British Airways will fly to Colombo from 14 April 2013, three times a week from London Gatwick to Colombo, via Male in the Maldives.
http://www.britishairways.com/travel/fx/public/en_gb?to=Colombo&fromPkg=LGW
Emirates Airlines
Emirates Airlines operates regular flights from London to Colombo, via Dubai. There are 3 daily flights from Dubai to Colombo, so the interchange will be brief.
Qatar Airways
Qatar Airways operates regular flights from London to Colombo, via Doha.
http://www.qatarairways.com/uk/en/homepage.page
Etihad Airways
Etihad Airways operates regular flights from London to Colombo, via Abu Dhabi.
http://www.etihadairways.com/sites/etihad/uk/en/home/pages/home.aspx