Australian Flight Data

Colombo to Melbourne

Sri Lanka · 168 months of data from Jan 1985 · Melbourne to Colombo

Passengers
98,862
Colombo to Melbourne, 12 months to May 2026
Both directions
192,725
including Melbourne to Colombo
Flight time
9h 50m
55m shorter than the return
Load factor
93%
seats filled on this leg

Traffic: 12 months to May 2026

98,862 passengers flew Colombo to Melbourne in the 12 months to May 2026, out of 192,725 on the route in both directions. Flights Colombo to Melbourne run 93% full, against 87% coming back.

The route

Melbourne Colombo

Distances are true from Melbourne; the ring marks the distance to Colombo.

How long is the flight?

Scheduled flight time from Colombo to Melbourne is 9h 50m gate to gate, over 8,353 km. Coming back takes 10h 45m — a difference of 55m, so this direction is the quicker one.

Scheduled block time — gate to gate, not time in the air — taken from the current timetable for this leg. Long-haul flights are often timetabled differently in each direction because of winds aloft, so the return is not always the same length. Check your own booking for the flight you are taking.

Flight numbers on this route

1 flight number currently scheduled from Colombo to Melbourne. These are the numbers you book under.

Scheduled every day this week — 7 departures in all.

SriLankan · 1 · Airbus A330-300

UL604

Current timetable as at 2026-09-06

Timetables change, and these carry no punctuality figures of their own — no on-time data is published for international flights at all. The passenger and load factor figures above cover the route, not any single flight number.

Passengers, 1985 to 2026

08,62317,245 May 2025Nov 2025May 2026
08,96917,938Delta lockdowns close the eastern states — Jul 2021 Omicron wave hits crew availability — Jan 2022 Bonza launches on leisure routes — Nov 2023 Bonza collapses after 15 months — Mar 2024 Rex enters administration and exits the trunk routes — Aug 2024 Cyclone Alfred closes south-east Queensland airports — Mar 2025 May 2021Nov 2023May 2026
08,96917,938Tigerair Australia stops flying — Feb 2020 COVID-19 border closures begin — Mar 2020 The deepest month: domestic traffic falls 96% — Apr 2020 Rex enters the trunk routes with jets — Mar 2021 Delta lockdowns close the eastern states — Jul 2021 Omicron wave hits crew availability — Jan 2022 Bonza launches on leisure routes — Nov 2023 Bonza collapses after 15 months — Mar 2024 Rex enters administration and exits the trunk routes — Aug 2024 Cyclone Alfred closes south-east Queensland airports — Mar 2025 Oct 2017Feb 2022May 2026
08,96917,938The pilots' dispute grounds domestic aviation — Aug 1989 Tigerair Australia stops flying — Feb 2020 COVID-19 border closures begin — Mar 2020 The deepest month: domestic traffic falls 96% — Apr 2020 Rex enters the trunk routes with jets — Mar 2021 Delta lockdowns close the eastern states — Jul 2021 Omicron wave hits crew availability — Jan 2022 Bonza launches on leisure routes — Nov 2023 Bonza collapses after 15 months — Mar 2024 Rex enters administration and exits the trunk routes — Aug 2024 Cyclone Alfred closes south-east Queensland airports — Mar 2025 Jan 1985Jun 2019May 2026

To May 2026 · Marks show industry events

How full were the flights?

Inbound load factor, read as a floor rather than an exact figure. Some flights on this pair also carried passengers to and from other cities, and their seats cannot be split between those journeys. Dividing by every seat on every aircraft that touched the route gives the lowest the true figure can be, so actual occupancy is at or above the line. Seat data begins in 2009, so this series is shorter than the passenger chart above.

80%89%98% May 2025Nov 2025May 2026
5%52%99% May 2021Dec 2023May 2026
2%51%99% Oct 2017Jan 2022May 2026

Load factor: seats data from 2009

When is this route busiest?

Average passengers by calendar month over the last ten years, relative to the annual average.

J: 1.01× the annual average J F: 0.87× the annual average F M: 0.98× the annual average M A: 1.02× the annual average A M: 1.00× the annual average M J: 1.03× the annual average J J: 1.04× the annual average J A: 1.00× the annual average A S: 1.04× the annual average S O: 0.88× the annual average O N: 1.00× the annual average N D: 1.12× the annual average D

Freight

Tonnes of air freight carried on this route — a dimension the domestic data does not have at all.

0258515 May 2025Nov 2025May 2026
0277554 May 2021Nov 2023May 2026
0339677 Oct 2017Feb 2022May 2026
0339677 Jan 1985Jun 2019May 2026

To May 2026

The route in numbers

Busiest month on record17,938 · May 2023
Data coverageJan 1985 – May 2026 (168 months)
Freight, 12 months to May 20264,975 tonnes
Destination regionSri Lanka

No punctuality data is published for international services, so there are no cancellation or on-time figures on this page. That series covers domestic routes only.

Related routes

From Melbourne

To Colombo

Airport data