The New Garuda Indonesia Experience: A332 Executive Class

[UMD]

Since I have more than 2 weeks leaves to clear before the end of 2009, I decided to make a trip to Jakarta to have an early birthday celebration with couple of my friends in Indonesia and at the same time trying out Garuda's new business class service on its new A332 that has now been plying the SIN - CGK as GA 833.

After booking the trip on zuji.com.sg (the only way I knew then on how to book GA's ticket online), I called Zuji regarding the access to the JetQuay CIP terminal at Changi that Garuda is now offering to its Business Class passengers. And as expected, the lady at Zuji got no clue about the JetQuay terminal and what she did was that she googled JetQuay on her screen and read to me what JetQuay was all about.

Frustrated with the Zuji experience, I decided to call Garuda's Singapore office and managed to talk to Nisha (I believe) who was in charge of the online customer service department and who was extremely helpful. She told me that she would book the access for me with JetQuay and would issue me a voucher to access the CIP terminal. She promised me that she would send me the voucher the next day. Nisha also told me that the booking engine on Garuda's Singapore website (www.garudaindonesia.com.sg) could now take booking as well as issue Garuda's ticket with Visa and MasterCard. She told me that Garuda had been working on the new system for on-line booking and e-ticket and hopefully soon it would be easier for all the passengers to use the service from the main Garuda's website.

True enough, I received the voucher via email the next day. Nisha also followed up by calling me to confirm if I understand how to use the voucher.

[UMD]

The Visit to JetQuay Terminal & The Joyful Ride to D46

As soon as I arrived at the JetQuay main entrance (after I was let in by the tight security at the gate - what's the idea here???), I was greeted by a very friendly gentlemen. He quickly pulled my luggage for me and took me to the lounge and seated me.

The main lobby with a stairway to the Main T2 terminal at Changi


The lounge area where I spent the next 40 minutes


Once I sat down, he offered me a drink and I asked (as usual) for a glass of water. He quickly went to grab me a bottle of bottled water with 1 empty glass. After he served me my drink, he asked for my passport and my ticket and asked if I have a special request or any seat preference upon which I told him I would like the last row of window seat in the first cabin. He then left me to do his duty to check me in.

His supervisor, a very friendly lady then came and asked how long I would spend in the lounge and that she would come back to accompany me to the departure hall once I was ready. She then got a call on her mobile telling her that my preferred seat had been taken and that the front cabin had been fully occupied. She asked if it would be acceptable for me to sit on 6A which I said Ok. She then left me alone and it was finally my opportunity to take some more pictures of the JetQuay lounge.

The small dining area...


The nice sofa and internet terminal lounge - those tables are actually computer terminal


and not to forget to browse SQTalk


As I was the lone passenger in the terminal for that time, I decided to explore further and ....

here is the gym area which is quite zen...


One of the 2 private rooms in the lounge with its own sofa and TV


I remembered our famous Kyo+ had once posted the food station which was very underwhelming, so I decided not to post it here. And I have to say the food station remains very disappointing but with the traffic in the lounge this low, I could definitely understand why there is no hot meal served in there.

As time flew, it was 40 minutes later and it was around 18:00 when the lady supervisor came to me and escorted me to the 2nd floor (via the lift) where her staff was ready with all my passport documents and set to drive me to the gate. Before I hopped onto the buggy, the lady supervisor asked if I would do any shopping before my flight and I told her that I would need to stop at the alcohol and cigarette shop to buy something very quickly. She then instructed her staff to drive me to the shop and to wait for me so I could be driven all the way to gate D46.

The start of my first ever buggy ride at any airport....


and at one point, we were actually going quite fast and I was actually quite embarassed with all the attentions that I got from other passengers inside the terminal.

[UMD]

Garuda's New Airbus & The Enjoyable Flight to CGK

Got into the gate at around 18:20 and the flight had been called for boarding so I went directly through the security check-point. PK-GPH, the second Garuda's new A332, would take me to CGK on that Sunday.

I truly love the look of this new livery and colors on Garuda.


As soon as I arrived at the door, the Garuda girl was there to greet me with the new "Salam Garuda Indonesia" which is similar to the Thai's wai but the Javanese style which is mostly performed at the chest level rather than the nose level. Wow...what a difference. This gesture alone suggested to me that Garuda was indeed changing and improving. Walking inside the aircraft to the second cabin, I found my 6A on the 3rd row in the second cabin. Only 9 out of 18 seats were occuppied in the 2nd cabin so I had an empty seat next to me.



Garuda's A332 has 3 rows of the new horizontal lie flat Executive Class seats in the front cabin (row 1 - 3) and 3 rows in the second cabin with a total of 36 seats. The seats have 74" pitch which make them one of the most generous pitch for a business class.


Garuda has also recently introduced its new bigger size maroon pillow as well as new maroon blanket in the Executive Class. For Y, the headrest and the pillow are the aqua marine color while the new blanket is brown.

One of the girls came quickly to me and offered me 3 choices of drinks - orange, apple, or champagne and I went for apple juice. Right after that, another girl came and offered me hot towel. Then, I was offered again if my blanket needed to be deployed by taking them out of the sterile plastic bag and I told her there was no need and thanked her for the offer.

It seemed that the crew was trained to be very attentive on this flight. This was indeed a great improvement. Soon after, we pushed back...



then I noticed about the mood lighting and Garuda actually turned it on.


As soon as we leveled off, I tried the AVOD IFE. The screen here is about 11' so this is no match to SQ's 15" screen. However, just to see this new PTV and this new AVOD IFE on Garuda is already a major plus points for the airline. The selections with only 25 movies titles and 10 TV shows were indeed quite poor compared to the hundreds I am so used to with SQ but the choice of movies were not bad at all with Harry Potter No. 6 and The time Traveller's Wife among those latest new release on the menu. SQ also had the same 2 movies on the November selections. I then stumbled on the Chinese movies "Overheard" which I did not manage to finish watching on SQ the previous week (see, the choice is indeed not that bad). So, I fast-forwarded the movies and started where I left off about a week ago. Garuda's AVOD IFE system is a touch screen system as well as being able to control with a remote control. The response time is also quite good.

Overheard with control panel on the screen



The IFE system also comes with about 35 music albums, several Garuda radio broadcast channels, and 25 interactive games. Overall, this is a great improvement for Garuda. Passengers in Y also have the same selections but on a smaller 9" screen on the back of every seats.

As this is a short flight, meal service then quickly started. There was no menu however for this short flight and the choice of foods were Stir-Fried Beef in Indonesian Spice gravy with rice or Duck in Mandarin Orangee sauce. I went for the 2nd choice which I did not regret at all as the quality was actually very good.





The roll and garlic bread were offered just like how SQ is doing it with the male flight attendant going around from seat to seat offering them. As I was on my low carb diet (sushi however is the exception), I of course, refused the roll politely.

The meal for this flight was served in the newly designed chinaware with the new beige tray cloth. Paying attention to detail also contributed to this "Salt 'n' Pepper" shakers arrangement that connects the Nature's Wing stroke.



Tea and coffee was then offered. Cappucino was also available on the flight. However, as a tea lover, I opted for tea. I was surprised when the girl came to me with an empty cup on a saucer and a selection of Twinings tea for me to choose. After my initial shock, I picked the Twinings Earl Grey Green Tea which I have to say is a very nice tea to drink. The girl then came over with a Chinaware pot and poured the hot water into my cup and told me to be careful as it was hot.



After I finished my cup of tea, the girl came to me again and asked if I would like a 2nd cup but I said no and thanked her for the offer. At this time, my movies was finishing and I thought it would be good for me to walk around the Business Class cabin for some photos opps.

This is the seat in a fully 180 degree flat mode


and it was indeed quite comfortable as I tried to sleep on it



I then had a chance to strike a conversation with the cabin crews. A few of them had noticed me taking photos and asked if I would like my photos to be taken and they also offered to be photo'ed as well. I could sense that the crews were very proud of the new products and of the way the new Garuda is going. They were all looking forward as well to the new kebaya uniforms and more new aircraft to arrive as well as the return to Europe and especially AMS. I told them they were doing a great job for the flight and they should keep it up and one of these days they could match the popularity of SQ Girls and Boys. They thanked me for the compliment and asked me to fly Garuda more often in the future.

I went back to my seat when the captain announced that we were already on a decent down to CGK. About 5 minutes before touch down, there was a signal for all the girls to bow in the front of each section with the now trademark "Salam Garuda" to thank all passengers for their patronage before the captain sent out the instruction for all the crews to go to their seats for landing. The cabin light was then dimmed and the mood lighting was turned on again for our final approach to CGK.

[UMD]

Garuda's Modest Lounge at CGK

Fast forward 3 days later, I found myself back in CGK to check in for GA 830 back to SIN.

At CGK, there are now about 20 Self Check-In Kiosks located in the area between E and F concourses. Looks like Garuda is really upgrading its reservation and ticketing system to go fully electronic. The check-in agent told me that soon we would be able to do online check in for international flights. Apparently, online check in is currently only available for domestic flights. By the way, Kudos to Garuda for saving trees by making the new BP only the size of the smaller stub of the regular BP. Garuda is really making a full use of the barcode on the BP.

After I checked in, I was given an invitation card to visit Garuda Executive Lounge which is located at the right-end of the E concourse just before the domestic area and next to the HSBC premier lounge.

The lounge is now more visible as it has been recently refurbished and the front entrance actually features the new Garuda Nature's Wings design.



Upon entering the lounge, I was greeted by this wall featuring decorated birds - I guess they were Garuda birds in different "batik" forms.


Behind the wall, the well lit lounge appeared. This lounge has a great tarmac view of E and F concourses gates.




Sitting area with counter for personal computers...definitely with a great view


Food Station with selections of hot and cold food which include sandwiches, soups, western, local Indonesian, and Chinese Dim Sums




As soon as I found my place to sit down, an attendant came to me and offered me drinks. I asked for a glass of mix ginger ale with soda water and it was quickly delivered to me with hot towel.



The Madura Style satay (despite being internationalized) was quite delicious so I went for a second serving. And yes, that was a piece of lontong (rice cake) accompanying the satay.



This lounge has a wifi facility, so there are only 3 computer terminals (but no Mac) available for use and I did like those funky chairs.



The lounge also has a "Quiet Room" - that's how Garuda calls it. This place looks very comfortable and there is only 1 in the whole lounge.



Here is a section of the lounge. Toilets and shower facilities (only 1 shower for each male and female) are located on the left hand side a few steps up from the main lounge.



Soon enough, the boarding was called and I made my way to my gate on E6. Before I left, the attendants also "Salam Garuda" me and wished me a good flight.

[UMD]

CGK - SIN : Another Wonderful Flight with Great Crews!

The first section of the C cabin was again full. So, I could only get myself a seat on the bulkhead row of the 2nd cabin. The pitch is the same. What is missing is the compartment for laptop that we can find on the back of every seat. Here is the leg shot for row 4.



Soon, I was offered a variety of juices and the Garuda specialty Martebe juice from the province of North Sumatra. Martebe actually stands for "Markisa and Terong Belanda" in Bahasa which translates to Passion Fruit and Tomarillo. Magazines and newspapers were also offered.



Similar to my incoming flight, hot towel was also offered and the cabin crews were very attentive. Soon, we pushed back and took off from CGK in a cinnamon red mood lighted cabin.





After we levelled off, we were offered hot towels once more so we could wipe our hands before the meal service. This was not offered in my incoming flights 3 days earlier. I actually like this double hot towel service. As this was a mid-afternoon flight, we were only offered light meal which consisted of Sushi maki with smoked salmon and Indonesian Style Nasi Goreng with Over Easy Egg. As a sushi lover, my choice was clear.



Not a Kinokawa standard but as Futomaki, they were fine


It looked like someone at CGK flight catering station had a great time making roses out of butter.


Tea and coffee service was offered in a similar fashion to my incoming flights to CGK and I went for the Twining Green Tea Earl Grey again. I really like this tea now.

I then spent my time watching the TV shows on the IFE. I decided not to watch any of the 25 movies because of the duration of our flight. As I said before, Garuda's selection on TV shows was still quite limited with only 10 TV short features and none of them was a Sitcom so I ended up watching one of the travel channel show about street food in Jakarta.

Soon enough, the captain was on the system broadcasting our descent into Singapore. Then came the signal for "Salam Garuda" which I managed to capture on camera this time albeit a little late.



Mood lighting was again turned on for our approach into Singapore.

[UMD]

Improvements that will take Garuda Indonesia flying ever higher

I like this one piece tray that swivels.


Passenger area - I was told it would be stocked for medium to long haul flights


Yeah...button hole for the napkin!


Garuda is finally getting serious with its magazine, onboard duty free catalogue (as thick as KrisShop catalogue), and entertainment guide. This is very much in contrast with the past when there wasn't any entertainment guide and that duty free catalogue was in the same thickness as the emergency card.


Instruction for the use of the IFE system on the A332...


and the B738


No longer a house brand amenity kits in the C toilet. It is now Gianfranco Ferre for the lotion and the cologne - not sure how this brand stacks up against Bvlgari or Salvatore Ferragamo but at least it is now Italian / Milanese brand as well.


A good size privacy screen...


and the seat control.


This headset should be the next item to be improved - let's see if Garuda will go for the BOSE or the other noise cancelling headsets.


A Sneak preview of Garuda Indonesia's new Kebaya (with Batik Sarong) in 3 corporate colours of Orange, Blue, and Green (no picture yet for the Green Kebaya) to be introduced January 2010 - courtesy of Indoflyer.net

[jjpb3]

Nice TR so far (up to post #3 at this reading), UMD.

and at one point, we were actually going quite fast and I was actually quite embarassed with all the attentions that I got from other passengers inside the terminal.

Yeah, sure, uh huh, Mr VVIP. I think I need to stick by you to see if some of your good luck charm rubs off on me.

[SQflyergirl]

Actually, I flew GA a few weeks ago - and they're pretty good.. This report affirms it sorta for me

[UMD]

Actually, I flew GA a few weeks ago - and they're pretty good.. This report affirms it sorta for me

I was pleasantly surprised with the improvement at GA as well.

With more new planes scheduled to come in the next 4 years including several more A332's (still rumoured) and 10 B777-300ER's starting in 2011 and with the prospect of being the next member in Skyteam, Garuda's services and network will surely improve further.

Garuda's newest B737-800NG's are already one of the most comfortable narrow-bodies in the region if not the world. I heard that Garuda would re-introduce First Class with its B777-300ER.

[Dent@SUB]

It looked like someone at CGK flight catering station had a great time making roses out of butter.

Now that what I call "ART"..... Awesome!!!....
Too pretty to use this "flower" to spread my bread...
I began to love GA again since my re-encounter with them last Sept...
If they keep their pace like this, I believe they will become one of the leading carrier in this region (or maybe world??) in the near future....
Kudos GA...!!!!

[MAN Flyer]

Great TR as usual UMD.

You sure you had enough to eat ?.

and at one point, we were actually going quite fast and I was actually quite embarassed with all the attentions that I got from other passengers inside the terminal.

I feel exactly the same on TG's buggy to the First Class lounge at BKK as it goes along a corridor past the D pier J class lounge. No matter how many times I have done it, it always me laugh. All these heads get a quick image of this buggy going past, and by the time they look-up we've gone.

Looking forward to doing it again tomorrow monring.

[hsf]

Looks great!!!

[jjpb3]

Count me in the ranks of those impressed with what GA is trying to do.

then I noticed about the mood lighting and Garuda actually turned it on.

As opposed to another SE Asian airline, UMD?

[benlee]

Great Trip Report! Tempted to try Garuda for a change!

[UMD]

Count me in the ranks of those impressed with what GA is trying to do.

As opposed to another SE Asian airline, UMD?

You've got it. SQ definitely comes to mind.