World's Most Improved Airlines - GA! Part 1

[diecastdrool]

Flight: GA833 (SIN-CGK)
Airline: Garuda Indonesia
Aircraft: B737-800NG
Date: 17 June 2010
ETD: 18:40 SIN TIME (delayed to 19:20)
Terminal: 1
Gate: C35

After reading a few TRs on how good GA is, I finally got the chance to ride one myself. Believe it or not, this is only my 2nd time travelling with GA. The last time with GA was in 2000 from MEL-DPS-SIN-AMS & FRA-BKK-CGK-DPS-MEL and it was...errr...one of the most tiring and boring flights ever!! []


At 18:50, GA flight with registration PK-GML appeared

At 19:10, boarding commenced. GA's FAs were rushing because the flight was delayed


Firefly...flying back to Subang


Leg room is ok...not too tight, just nice for my height (5'9")


Flight was 100% full....I notice they were still using the old safety demo vid


View from outside the window


Welcome screen on my seat...nice touch!


Followed by Welcome Drink....i dont think SQ even offers this in Y class. Very nice touch by GA! Choice of Guava or OJ


Choice of in-seat reading materials. GA is getting serious in this dept, the Inflight DutyFree catalog is real thick

Flight departed and soon after, DINNER was served....curious what it looks like...hmmm


WOW...better than SQ!! Thumbs up. Even SQ cuts back on desert for regional flights under 2 hours. I'm really impressed with GA

DINNER for tonight:
Appetiser: Gado-gado Jakarta
Main Course: Indonesian Fried Noodles with black pepper beef
Desert: Sago with a hint of mango
Bread roll and butter
Choice of drinks (juice, softdrinks, beer, or wines)

Verdict: Quantity: 9.5/10, Quality: 8/10 (bread roll was a bit tough and cold), Taste: 9/10. WELL DONE


Approaching JKT.... Flight touched down at 19:45

================================================== ====================================

TO BE CONTINUED

[sqdazz]

Wow, im impressed, meal is definitely better than SQ's regional offerings now and the welcome drink is a nice touch.

thanks for sharing, looking forward to more.

[diecastdrool]

World's Most Improved Airlines - GA! Part 2

Part 2

Flight: GA830 (CGK-SIN)
Airline: Garuda Indonesia
Aircraft: A330-200
Date: 20 June 2010
ETD: 14:55 JKT TIME (delayed to 15:15)
Terminal: 2
Gate: E7

Because of late incoming flight from Sydney, this flight was also delayed by 20 minutes


After all the ++ reviews, I finally got the chance to step my feet in GA A330-200. Seat: 30K and I got in first. Reg: PK-GPH


Usual seat arrangement: 2-4-2 and gradually becomes 2-3-2 after row 30


Leg room is roomier than B738NG.


Spotting...GA B737-500


Big mummy is approaching...


CGK was awefully crowded during this hour. All the ME flights were about to depart too


Welcome drink...no choice available...just classic OJ. Still a nice touch


I've never seen this before...quite uniquely dressed AK flight, leaving for KUL (I presumed)


10 mins into the flight, and this is the view. Magnificent!!


And it's MEAL TIME. Hot refreshment was served because this is a mid-afternoon flight.

HOT REFRESHMENT for today:
Appetiser: Cucumber salad
Main course: Mi goreng with tomato stir-fried chicken
Desert: Coconut mouse cake (Absolutely delicious!!)
Prawn crackers, fruit juices, softdrink dan wine.

Verdict: Quantity: 8.5/10, Quality: 8/10 (Mi goreng is a bit on the plain side), Taste: 8/10


A quick tour to the lavatory after the meal. Toilet is spotlessly clean, smells good and well stocked up with toiletries. Another thumbs up!

SUMMARY:
Does GA deserve the 4 stars rating from Skytrax?
In my opinion, they deserve it 100%. Just minor improvements to some details (e.g. FA's lack of safety awareness, more comfortable seats, etc) will hopefully help them achieve the 5 stars status soon. Well done GA!!

[ycp81]

Really impressive for such a short flight! Guess GA is serious with winning over the premium pax from SQ.

[Dent@SUB]

Niceeeeeeee......!!!
Thanks for sharing with us....
GA really improved a lot, they really deserve the 4* title (Just curious with what will they do with their new B773ER with their first 1st class/F product next year (or 2012??))
Hopefully at that time they've already achieved 5*....
Now I can't wait for my first SYD-CGK with them next month....
Btw, did they offer you their signature "marteba" (markisa and terong belanda or passion fruit and tamarillo) juice on that flight?
The FAs on my domestic flights once told me that that juice only offered on international routes.

[diecastdrool]

Btw, did they offer you their signature "marteba" (markisa and terong belanda or passion fruit and tamarillo) juice on that flight?
The FAs on my domestic flights once told me that that juice only offered on international routes.

Unfortunately, I was flying on their Y class...I guess that signature juice is only served in Business Class. But yeah, I heard about the goodness of that juice too...hehe.

Enjoy your flight from SYD with GA...I'm sure you'll be impressed too. Well..at least I was during this short flight. GA definitely outshines all other airlines serving SIN-CGK route now.

[diecastdrool]

GA really improved a lot, they really deserve the 4* title (Just curious with what will they do with their new B773ER with their first 1st class/F product next year (or 2012??))
Hopefully at that time they've already achieved 5*....

Just some updated news here...there's been a lot of talks abt GA having their first ever B773ER by as early as end of this year or early 2011 since Air India cancelled their orders from the BOEING factory.

And yes, i'm curious abt their First class arrangement too

[SQflyergirl]

Very nice to see GA on the way up They deserve it for the effort they've put in thanks for sharing!

[SliverKris]

I read all GA trip reportations in SQsTalk since its 'rebirth' with much interest, and this reportation is no exceptionation LOL. Wonderful TR! Can't wait to experience it for myself.

I've never seen this before...quite uniquely dressed AK flight, leaving for KUL (I presumed)

Hey, this is Zoom Malaysia livery, a tourism campaign to promote domestic tourism among Malaysians (Malaysians tend to vacationing abroad these days thus the need of this campaign to spur the economy from within the nation). This livery is sponsored by the Ministry of Tourism.

(Just curious with what will they do with their new B773ER with their first 1st class/F product next year (or 2012??))

Btw, did they offer you their signature "marteba" (markisa and terong belanda or passion fruit and tamarillo) juice on that flight? The FAs on my domestic flights once told me that that juice only offered on international routes.

Thanks for the info guys. I didn't know that GA will introduced a First Class cabin aboard their new B77W aircrafts. And like you guys as well, I L O V E markisa juice. Had many experiences in various rumah makan in the interior areas of Indonesia where the rumah makan's owner plucked the markisa fruits from the trees next to where I was eating and squeezed the juice right in front of my nose and served it right away to me, with some es of course. Simply heavenly! Now I wonder how does terong belanda tastes?

[agmhkg]

they could serve the welcome drink in EY b4 push back? cool!

[ycp81]

Just wondering, does GA offer a choice of meals?

[diecastdrool]

Just wondering, does GA offer a choice of meals?

Unfortunately, no choice of meals were offered on this short flight. However passengers can always request for special meals (vegetarian, low lactose, etc) during reservation. All meals on board GA are Halal anyway...so I guess they do not offer Muslim meals

The only thing lacking is the safety awareness of the FAs. Not sure if this was due to the slight delay on both legs of the flight, but the FAs were distributing the welcome drinks while the safety video was being screened!! I certainly haven't come across this experience with SQ

[Kyo]

Not sure if this was due to the slight delay on both legs of the flight, but the FAs were distributing the welcome drinks while the safety video was being screened!! I certainly haven't come across this experience with SQ

It reminds me of JL and how they used to distribute OJ or Apple prior to take-off between SIN-KUL (although that might be due to a lack of time in the air also).

I enjoyed this TR, and look forward to one day dipping my toes into GA...

[hsf]

Looks pretty good!

[abc]

looks good!