The Battle of Indonesia Domestic Carriers

[YK@HKG]

It has been some time (1 year++) since I travelled on domestic carriers while in Indonesia. So, I took chance of the long Labour-Day weekend to travel to Bali on a short-break with my fiancee.

The outbound journey to the Island of Paradise was on Merpati Nusantara MZ604 with the route of SUB-DPS, departing Juanda International Airport at 09:50am local time. One thing about Merpati is that it kept changing the flight number and departure time. It was originally MZ602 with departure time of 09:30....then delayed to 10:20..before brought forward yet again to 09:50.

The check-in was smooth and we promptly paid the airport tax orfIDR 60,000 for domestic flights. Then, we checked out the Blue Sky International Lounge, which is also next to the dedicated lounge for Garuda Indonesia's Executive Class and Garuda Frequent Flyer Gold & Platinum members. The entrance fee will be waives as long as you have HSBC Platinum, Citibank Platinum or other local credit cards.

The boarding pass:


The lounge entrance:


Since it's still 1 hr to the departure time, we relaxed in the lounge and grabbed some of the hot snacks there for our breakfast. Not too bad, since it has some of the Indonesian local favorites. While at the lounge, I also snapped a picture of Garuda Indonesia plane with the "Visit Indonesia 2008" livery, ready to take off to CGK, and a Mandala Airline plane which I will have a chance to try next July on SUB-CGK route.

Inside the lounge:


Garuda bird:


Mandala bird


Just 30 mins before departure, we made our way to Gate 5. Boarding announcement was made and unfortunately, our plane was parked at the other side of the tarmac, so, we had to hop on the bus provided by Merpati and made our way to the plane.

The plane that will bring us to DPS:


The Silk Air bird just arrived from SIN and ready for the return trip, parked just next to the Merpati bird:

[YK@HKG]

The plane which was to fly us off to DPS was an old B737-200, with an all-Economy configuration of 3-3. That morning, it just flew KUL-SUB, with the onward journey to DPS and then back again straight to SUB and maybe KUL.

The interior of the plane was really in need of some touch-up as it was definitely aging and some of the seat features were broken as you will see later in the photos. The load was at best 50-60%, yet, the check-in lady still managed to make us walk all the way to row 23, the exit row While passengers were still boarding the plane, I took the time to snap a few pics of the cabin:

The Merpati cabin:




Me in the Merpati bird :


A trip report won't be complete without the customary leg-shots, so, here's one of them:



The broken armrest:


The blurry pic I took while the bird was taxying:


The flight itself was a short shuttle flight, lasting only 35 mins. Unlike US domestic carriers, INA carriers still provide us with free snackbox, even for this short flight.

The snackbox:




We arrived in DPS pretty much on time and again, we had to walk on the tarmac to the arrival hall, which was just in front of us.

Posing with the Garuda bird on the tarmac:


The arrival hall in DPS's domestic terminal:


So, we began our wonderful holiday in Bali...with stays in The Westin Resort and Laguna Resort & Spa. Stay tuned for the return trip (this time on Garuda Indonesia) and perhaps reviews of the 2 Starwood hotels.

[SQflyergirl]

Thanks for the insight and sharing the report! Keep it coming

[SQFAN]

Thanks YK@HKG. Looking forward to your hotel room pics and more.

[jjpb3]

I know it was a short flight, but how were the crew, YK@HKG?

Great start to your TR, and looking forward to the next installments.

[YK@HKG]

I know it was a short flight, but how were the crew, YK@HKG?

Great start to your TR, and looking forward to the next installments.

Surprisingly, there were quite a number of crew for the short flight to Bali (and the turn-around back to SUB). I counted at least 2 Female and 2 Male FAs. I recalled that during my trip on SLC-SFO on UA, it was only 1 Females FA serving the passengers for a much longer flight.

Some of the crew looked disinterested and they were basically spent their time chatting with each other, with 1 of them eating at the back, once they finished with the task of distributing the snackbox.

[YK@HKG]

Return Trip: DPS-SUB

After spending a very enjoyable holiday in the Island of Bali, it's time to say goodbye. Nevertheless, it will only be a short goodbye as I will be back next month for my wedding to be held at the Ritz Carlton Hotel Bali.

The return flight will be on Garuda Indonesia GA343, leaving DPS at 4:30pm local time. We made our way to the Domestic Terminal as early as 2pm as we knew that it would be a full flight in Y. Check-in was smooth as usual and in no time, we found ourselves in the waiting hall, which was packed with locals and tourists (mainly from Korea).

The Boarding Pass:


The Waiting Hall at DPS:





Since we have plenty of spare-time, we made our way to the Sanur Lounge. It was quite a nice lounge, with internet terminals, some hot snacks and cold drinks. I spent the rest of the time browsing through the internet, while my fiancee and her mum were reading newspapers and enjoying some of the foods on offer there.

Around 4:10pm, boarding announcements were made and we wasted no time in making our way to the aircraft. As in SUB, we also had to walk to get to our aircraft.

Sanur Lounge:


The bird which flew us off to SUB:

[YK@HKG]

We were given the exit row at row10 and as soon as we settled ourselves, the FA briefed us on some safety issues when seating in the exit row. The same instructions were given to the folks seating behind us at row11.

First impression of the cabin was that it was sleek and completely different from the Merpati cabin. Cabin maintenance was obviously a priority for GA these days! The seat was neat and clean, with its aqua blue color, which gave a fresh feeling to passengers. GA has certainly improved on this aspect since the last time I took them on Feb 2007.

Price wise, they are also the most expensive ones among the other domestic carriers. One reason for the escalating fares is the full loads that they enjoy on some of popular and most lucrative domestic routes like CGK-SUB, SUB-DPS and CGK-DPS; and also the increasing demand for domestic air travel. As a reference, a return trip on the cheaper economy fares will cost around US$120 for SUB-DPS-SUB and US$250 for CGK-DPS-CGK.

A quick snap of the cabin while it was still not full:


Customary leg-room shot:


Arm-rest with faulty recline or was it purposely made that way since it's an exit row???


We departed DPS right on time and it was again a short shuttle of 35 mins back to SUB. The FAs still had the time to distribute the snackbox, which I finished this time. It consisted of a Kit-Kat, one small cup of Aqua Mineral Water and a meat-bun Maybe I was hungry at that time. I also browsed through the Garuda Inflight Magazines. I was really impressed with the improvements they had done with the magazine and the inflight duty-free. These are some little details which certainly matters a lot for an airline to retain its loyal passengers.

Seatback:


Snackbox:


In no time, we landed at SUB. One little complaint that I had was that the Garuda bird was parked at quite a distance and we had to walk a little bit to the baggage reclaim areas. I also snapped a few pics of some aircrafts in SUB.

Air Asia:


Sriwijaya Air:


Baggage reclaim area at SUB:




Overall, I am very pleased with GA this time and they have obviously done a lot of work in turning GA into the no 1 airline for domestic air-travels in Indonesia.

[SQFAN]

Nevertheless, it will only be a short goodbye as I will be back next month for my wedding to be held at the Ritz Carlton Hotel Bali.

Congrats.
Please post photos if possible.

[YK@HKG]

As promised in the earlier post, I will write more on my domestic trips on GA and RI (Mandala Airlines).

My wedding was held in Bali almost 2 weeks ago and we had booked tickets for about 30 of us (families and close friends) for SUB-DPS on GA, departing SUB on 27th June 2008, morning flight. There were some other family members departing both SUB and CGK on the previous day (26th) using GA and RI (for CGK pax).

It was a full flight (in Y and reportedly in J as well) since June is the school-vacation season for Indonesia, so, many families were travelling to Bali for their holiday. My sister was one of the passenger who booked her CGK-DPS-CGK pretty late and the tix costed Rp 2.5m (around US$260).

The flight was supposed to leave SUB on 10:20am, but, as expected, it was delayed for 40 mins. Similarly, the pax leaving on the previous day also reported delays for GA, but no delay for RI. The flight details were pretty much the same as before (with snackbox served) and it was an enjoyable flight on GA Y as usual.

As for the trip from DPS-SUB, it was quite a disaster We were booked on GA343, with departure time from Bali at 4:30pm. We arrived at the airport about 2 hrs early and at that time, the check-in agent said no delay was expected. We waited for 1.5 hrs in Sanur Lounge and it was time for boarding (4:00pm). No boarding announcement was made , which meant that there could be a possible delay. I made my way to the gate and enquired about the situation. The gate agent casually told me that the flight would be delayed till 6:20pm, a near 2-hrs delay. Reason: the incoming flight from Yogyakarta was delayed since there was some technical problems.

This would be my first significant delay in recent years, but, there was nothing we could do, except to return to the Lounge and spent the time browsing the Internet (Thanks God for the PC terminal there) and watching the TV. A consolation for us was that GA decided to distribute snack coupon (which could be taken in a few restaurants inside the terminal) for all the passengers on our flight.

At around 5:30pm, we decided to take our snack in one of the restaurant (or more like a canteen to us). At around 6:10pm, it was finally boarding time for us! We even bumped into my wife's uncle and his sons, which were supposedly leaving on 6:40pm. They too were delayed for 20 mins! We were among the first one to board the plane and understandably, some of the pax behind us were getting quite restless as well. The plane ride was smooth and we arrived in SUB pretty much as scheduled. However, there was another delay while we waited for our bags

Overall, apart from the delays, the flights on GA Y were pretty good and they were still better than the rest, although RI could catch them in the near future. More details on the RI flight to CGK in the next installment.

[YK@HKG]

SUB-CGK

Mandala Airlines (http://www.mandalaair.com) is the latest domestic airline that I took recently. Just a brief background of the company, it had recently undergone an aggressive transformation and rebranding in late 2007, with the appointment of Mr. Warrick Brady (from South Africa) as its current CEO. The new Mandala even ordered 30 additional units of A320 to replace its aging fleet of B737.

I travelled with my wife, my in-laws, my wife's aunts, and her sister (8 of us altogether) on board RI565 to CGK, with departure time at 08:15am. It was a busy morning at SUB and as expected, the flight was full with the usual business travellers as well as those returning back from their holidays. Check-in was not a hassle at all, although there was a queue in front of us. I was slightly disappointed when the check-in lady gave us the last few rows (29 and 30), but, it was understandable.

Some photos taken at the crowded check-in area:






As soon as we got our boarding passes, we made our way to the Gate 6. We didn't enter the lounge, instead, we just waited outside the gate before boarding as my wife's aunts brought some nasi campur for us. I was pretty hungry at that time, so, I grabbed one packet and finished it very quickly I also took some photos of the exhibit by one local impressionist painter being displayed near the gate.

My boarding pass:


The gate:


Paint exhibit:




Boarding announcements were made at around 7:50am and we made our way to the plane in no time.

[YK@HKG]

The plane was an A320 and it was apparently quite new. First impression as I entered the plane: there was no J class onboard Mandala (the same as Merpati). Altogether, there were 31 rows, with a 3-3 layout. I was allocated 29B (middle-seat), while my wife got 29C. The others were seated either beside us or behind us.

The flight was served by 3 stewardess and unlike GA, there was no free snackbox for our consumption. Instead, like Air Asia, passengers can order some food, which are available from the menu in the inflight duty-free magazine, called fly'n shop. There was also an inflight mandala Magazine, which was only its 2nd edition (for July-September). IMHO, those 2 magazines were very good for a domestic airline. The inflight magazine also featured a short interview with the CEO (Warrick Brady), outlining the vision of the new Mandala and the expectation of the new head.

Safety card for the A320:


The inflight magazines:

[YK@HKG]

Surprisingly, the plane was already making its way from the gate very very early and we took off before the scheduled departure time of 8:15am This flight was probably the most on-time flight I had taken in a while, even taking international carriers like CX into consideration

Personally, I felt that RI's Y seat was definitely better than MZ, and only slightly inferior to GA. There was no broken stuffs that I could spot, unlike the pictures that I had posted on MZ (and GA too). The only negative for me was the color, which was quite dull as compared to the bright blue for GA. The cabin certainly looked fresh and new, including the lavatory, which was a big plus for domestic airline. The on-time performance certainly added another good impression to me! For the price of IDR 377,000 (including tax and fuel surcharge) for a one-way trip from SUB-CGK, it was definitely a steal!!! GA would have costed at least twice as much and the frequent delays (esp during the peak travel season in June) made RI our possible choice in the future.

The cabin:


The seat:


The leg-room shot:


Light and Aircon control:


Me in my seat:


Flight-time was 1 hour and I spent the time reading a novel while switched on to my Bose QC3 and Ipod. It was a very smooth flight with no turbulence whatsoever and we arrived in CGK on time around 9:15am. We departed the plane from the tail exit and made our way to the arrival terminal 1C (for Domestic non-Garuda flights). Our baggages also made their way to the carousel pretty much without any delays.

A parting shot of the Mandala bird, taken at the tarmac:


Overal, it was probably the best domestic flight I have taken so far, with the on-time departure and arrival, new plane, and a very competitive price. I would not hesitate to recommend Mandala to you guys as the new CEO will certainl take Mandala to new heights. I will not be surprised to see it rise to no 2 (currently Lion Air) and compete with Garuda head-on in the near future.

[camsean]

I agree Mandala are pretty good these days. They are expanding their network rapidly which is good. However, I noticed today that their website now only accepts Indonesian credit cards, which is a step backwards in my opinion.

I think Batavia are also good. They have a good network as well and do online sales now too.

I think your assessment of Garuda is spot on. I can never really justify paying a premium for them.