How To Reach Colombo From Chennai

Here is how you can go from Chennai to Colombo by flight, train, roadway or ferry.

By Air: There are 8 Chennai to Colombo flights everyday, and the distance of around 650km by air takes 1 hour 20 minutes to travel. IndiGo Airlines have the most flights to Colombo from Chennai among the Indian airlines, but the Chennai to Colombo flight by Sri Lankan Airlines run everyday of the week. However, the sheer frequency of flights is a good enough hint that this is a pretty busy route, so to get Chennai to Colombo cheap flights, it is better to book well in advance.

By Road/Rail: At present, there are no roadways or railways between Chennai and Colombo. The closest one can get is to Dhanushkodi in Pamban Island, from where Talaimannar of Sri Lanka is only 29km away by sea. There are possibilities of a sea link in the future, which will lead to possible bus and car routes to Colombo, but there is none as of yet.

By Sea: There used to ferry service back during the British era, which was resumed in 2011 between Tuticorin to Colombo. But that too has been indefinitely stalled for a while. As of yet, there is no other way to reach Colombo from India than air travel.