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Batik Air: Business Class on a budget (CGK-SIN)

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  • Batik Air: Business Class on a budget (CGK-SIN)

    Background

    This trip report is about Batik Air, a rather unknown Indonesian airline which is supposed to be the premium wing of Lion Air - a well known Indonesian LCC brand. It has been around for a few years since 2013 but I have yet to try it because I can't find enough reason why I should fly with them and not with the true LCCs for such a short sector or if I need a premium experience, I would have gone with SQ's Super deal fares which these days have hovered around $200 to Jakarta (a very reasonable deal).

    However, recently, while I was looking for a last minute ticket to Jakarta, just slightly more than a week ahead prior to Mother's Day weekend, i came across Batik's business class fare of S$123 all in. Now this is an awesome deal in business class and there I went and booked it straight away.

    Flight: ID 7153
    Type: A320
    Reg: PK-LAU
    Cabin: Business
    Seat: 1A
    Load: 10/12


    And so I reached Jakarta airport early Monday morning beaming with positive expectation. Typical of Monday mornings, it was quite busy.



    And Air Asia certainly dominates.



    At Batik's counter, I was greeted by a green carpet (not a red one) and it was almost exclusively for me



    .....while the neighbouring lanes were packed with economy passengers.



    Check in was smooth. And then just before I left, I asked for the lounge card because that was the impression that I had - that Batik provided lounge access facility to its business class passenger. But disappointingly, I got a no for an answer. I Guess I can't complain either since the fare is just slightly more than a hundred bucks.

    I walked through the quiet corridor of Jakarta's T2 where shops just barely opened at 6am in the morning



    And then settled down at the Premier Lounge whose access I had to use my Priority Pass. It's a decent lounge with decent selection of food although it does not appear so fresh.



    I had coffee and relaxed a bit before I started to make my way towards the Gate.



    I must say that I like CGK's unique architecture. It's a fresh break from the usual steel and glass architecture elsewhere.





    When I reached the gate, boarding had commenced and here's my first glimpse of Batik Air.


  • #2
    And here's my seat - a standard reclining business class seat in 2-2 configuration and there are 3 rows.



    I settled down and I was offered a quirky green coloured green which was not exactly my kind of thing as I can't tell what flavour it was (too artificial)



    And I started noticing the poor Housekeeping. In the above pic, the crumb was not mine. It was there all along before I sat down. Bad Housekeeping. And while at the time the cabin was not full yet, I moved to another seat and found more crumbs. Bad.



    Other than the poor Housekeeping, the hardware is decent. IFE screen is available for every passenger and the screen is huge.



    Entertainment selection is obviously not SQ but at least there is something.



    Headsets were distributed in nice fabric bag.



    And then cashew came next.



    Soon after we were on the taxi towards the runway, where I spotted this Garuda (a CRJ? I didn't know they have these). CRJs are quite rare in this region.



    And soon after we were airborne.



    Breakfast was served almost half way through the journey.

    I love nasi goreng and I love all sorts of things tempeh. But the quality was just average. SQ economy tasted better. This was a little cold and stale-ish.



    And then coffee was served towards the end and this was a strong brew - better than the usual airline's coffee.



    I checked out the toilet. And well, at least the housekeeping is nice, clean, and tidy



    It was then a smooth journey towards Singapore where we landed on time.

    Verdict:

    An average experience and with a really bad Housekeeping. The crew was cold although they were quite patient. The meal was average at best. But all in all, I am happy paying S$123 for the experience. Will I fly it again? Definitely ..... but it appears that prices are usually around S$230+ and I wouldn't pay that much.
    Last edited by SQueeze; 7 July 2017, 04:02 PM.

    Comment


    • #3
      Yes, GA operates the CRJ, the 1000 series.

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      • #4
        Originally posted by zilchster View Post
        Yes, GA operates the CRJ, the 1000 series.
        Yeah, I fly this 'flying pencil' CRJ of Garuda a lot from SRG-SUB, also once flew from CGK to TJQ (exotic Belitung [Billiton] island), the cabin is narrow and for a tall person 180cm above, they have to squeeze a bit just to walk on the aisle. Mostly flown by Latin pilots.

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        • #5
          Thanks for sharing, SQueeze! Great pics as always. I also think CGK's architecture is very pleasant. The low rise design with elements of local architecture, and the open gardens, have an air of serenity that would be great if the terminal wasn't operating over capacity.

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