Garuda Indonesia C Class CGK - DPS
May 6, 2003 | 5:27 am
#1
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Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: SE1, London & White River, South Africa
Posts: 24,657
Garuda Indonesia C Class CGK - DPS
And now for something a little bit different.
As part of a recent trip to Asia, I managed to arrange a little side step to Bali for 36 hours. Not long enough, but more exciting than sitting by the pool at the Shangri-La in Jakarta. The only tickets for Jakarta – Denpasar that were bookable in the UK were with Garuda Indonesia. So, 6 o’clock on Friday night saw in a Silverbird cab on my way to Soekarno Hatta International – Jakarta’s main airport.
Garuda use Terminal 2 for their domestic flights – the only domestic services from what is primarily the international carrier terminal. Domestic check in is tucked way in the end of the rather cute Indonesian style terminal building. However, to get there you have to pass through a rather perfunctory ticket check and baggage x-ray. As part of what seems to be a job creation scheme for airport security, hold bags are both stickered and strapped.
Garuda Indonesia GA 416
Jakarta d.20:20, Denpasar a.23:00
DC 10-30
Executive Class Seat 1K
Check In
Before I could even get to the check in desks three (rather pretty and cheery) female Garuda employees waylaid me. One glance at my ticket and I was told I qualified for their ‘valet check in service’. One of the girls relieved my of my ticket and 20,000 Rupiah (US$2) for the airport tax. Another wheeled my bags off, while the third whisked me through the airport making small talk. I was escorted to a seat, and assured that my boarding pass would be with me shortly. I was thoroughly impressed with the service – the concept is even better than either the SQ or Emirates First check services at SIN and DXB respectively – and enhanced by three really nice, helpful employees
Lounge
The lounge is split 50/50 smoking/non smoking at this time of night and was pretty sparsely populated with only a few people waiting for the Cityflyer service to Surabaya. There are plenty of T.V’s in the lounge – all with an audience, but sadly the communication facilities left a lot to be desired, with no Internet access at all and only 2 phones. On a brighter note, there was a good variety of food ranging from satay to soup with some curry puffs thrown in for good measure. It actually tasted pretty good too! The usual array of soft drinks was present, but the piece de resistance is the chiller cabinet full of cold beer glasses and a full blown draft Bintang Beer tap. Now, THAT is civilised.
Having helped myself, my boarding pass re-appeared in the hands of another employee. She also brought bad news that the flight was delayed by an hour and 20 minutes. As compensation, I got a 40,000 Rupiah food voucher! A nice touch, though the only outlet I could use it at was McDonalds. Oh well, it was a good thought. The lounge experience was O.K – not a great place to relax or work in, but preferable to sitting in the main terminal – mainly thanks to the beer!
Boarding
After a long, long time plugging away on my laptop in a by now deserted laptop, our flight was called. Boarding was from a gate at the far end of the domestic pier. There is shared security area – which was very peaceful. They also seemed very perfunctory and I’m not sure the metal detector was even working as I managed to walk through with a mobile phone in my pocket without a bleep being made. There was a short queue at the gate, and then we were sent down a flight of steps to board – horror of horrors – a bus! I hate bus transfers as they are always horribly crowded and hot, and this was no exception. In fact, the only civilised one I can remember was with Cathay at Columbo where as the sole business class passenger I got my own bus to take me to the plane!
Once off the bus we were escorted up the stairs and down the airbridge to join the plane.
On board
A DC10? Haven’t flown one of those for a while – not since a highly memorable flight on Biman Bangladesh from Dhaka to Kathmandu with a fine few of Mount Everest on the right hand side.
On this particular configuration, all of the C class seats are located in the forward cabin. The layout is 4 rows of 2x2x2, giving a nice spacious feel to the cabin. The décor is blue and cream, giving a light airy feel, making a rather aged plane feel slightly younger. Seating is in a fairly standard business class seat, with a respectable 50” seat pitch. The recline is not that generous, and the footrest is a rather curious manual contraption made out of aluminium tubes. It looked more like a deckchair to me, but was perfectly serviceable – much like the rest of the seat. Nothing fancy but perfectly acceptable.
Once on board there was a big welcome from the crew, who flittered around like hummingbirds to get a newspaper, pillow (!), juice and a hot towel. The load was light – only 5 in C, and Y was probably no more than 2/3 full. Very different from pre-October last year when getting a seat on a Friday night service to Bali was nigh on impossible I’m told.
Push back was – as advertised – an hour and 20 late. As the flying time is 1h32, the schedule is not in the least bit padded – no ATC delays over central Java! Take off was noisy – a reminder that this is vintage 70’s technology in action. The IFE kicked into action shortly after take off. This consisted of the old-fashioned projector and screen. No headphones were given out and the sound was pumped through the PA system. This meant enduring canned laughter for the entire flight, as the ‘selection’ was a series of inane Candid Camera rip-off programmes. It seemed popular with the rest of the pax – not my cup of tea I’m afraid.
Dinner had been promised on the itinerary, and out it came. Linens were laid, and the starter and main course were served together. The starter was a feeble salad, and there was a choice of curried chicken or curried fish for the main. Both were served with rice and vegetables in a casserole dish. I chose the chicken, which tasted O.K – little more than a glorified economy meal. It took 3 crew to arrange the try and serve me - not a slick routine. Things kept getting dropped and forgotten and I was half way through my meal when the beer turned up! There were also soft drinks on offer, but no wine or champagne sadly.
Lukewarm rock solid rolls were passed around, and then ‘dessert’ was served. It looked like a slime mould garnished with peach slices – I passed on that. The coffee was utterly, utterly vile. A pity that Garuda can’t find anything better, especially as we were flying over Java at the time!
Not long after the tables were cleared, we began our descent into Denpasar. Just time for a quick flick through the in-flight sales magazine – how very 80’s. Lots of dubious local branded stuff and wide selection of Garuda branded bags for sale too. The descent was rapid and we were on stand exactly 1h20 late. The airport is pretty small and it’s only a short walk to the reclaim area. One novelty is that the flight carries International passengers who will clear immigration at DPS. This means all passengers have their BP scrutinised before actually getting into the reclaim area.
The bags came through very quickly, with all the C class bags off first – except mine! It finally put in an appearance as the last bag on the carousel, having given me a few palpitations on the way. Maybe the SQ PPS tags upset the handlers in Jakarta?
All in all, a reasonable performance. The staff are certainly trying hard, but the product they have to work with is patchy – the catering and IFE being woeful. That said, it is a small miracle GA is still flying after all the financial woes they have suffered over the last 6 years, and they are up against world class competition regionally. I would happily fly them again domestically – certainly their safety standards are considered much higher than some of the competition. Internationally, I think I will stick with SQ/CX – GA are way behind and I can’t see them catching up that fast.
As part of a recent trip to Asia, I managed to arrange a little side step to Bali for 36 hours. Not long enough, but more exciting than sitting by the pool at the Shangri-La in Jakarta. The only tickets for Jakarta – Denpasar that were bookable in the UK were with Garuda Indonesia. So, 6 o’clock on Friday night saw in a Silverbird cab on my way to Soekarno Hatta International – Jakarta’s main airport.
Garuda use Terminal 2 for their domestic flights – the only domestic services from what is primarily the international carrier terminal. Domestic check in is tucked way in the end of the rather cute Indonesian style terminal building. However, to get there you have to pass through a rather perfunctory ticket check and baggage x-ray. As part of what seems to be a job creation scheme for airport security, hold bags are both stickered and strapped.
Garuda Indonesia GA 416
Jakarta d.20:20, Denpasar a.23:00
DC 10-30
Executive Class Seat 1K
Check In
Before I could even get to the check in desks three (rather pretty and cheery) female Garuda employees waylaid me. One glance at my ticket and I was told I qualified for their ‘valet check in service’. One of the girls relieved my of my ticket and 20,000 Rupiah (US$2) for the airport tax. Another wheeled my bags off, while the third whisked me through the airport making small talk. I was escorted to a seat, and assured that my boarding pass would be with me shortly. I was thoroughly impressed with the service – the concept is even better than either the SQ or Emirates First check services at SIN and DXB respectively – and enhanced by three really nice, helpful employees
Lounge
The lounge is split 50/50 smoking/non smoking at this time of night and was pretty sparsely populated with only a few people waiting for the Cityflyer service to Surabaya. There are plenty of T.V’s in the lounge – all with an audience, but sadly the communication facilities left a lot to be desired, with no Internet access at all and only 2 phones. On a brighter note, there was a good variety of food ranging from satay to soup with some curry puffs thrown in for good measure. It actually tasted pretty good too! The usual array of soft drinks was present, but the piece de resistance is the chiller cabinet full of cold beer glasses and a full blown draft Bintang Beer tap. Now, THAT is civilised.
Having helped myself, my boarding pass re-appeared in the hands of another employee. She also brought bad news that the flight was delayed by an hour and 20 minutes. As compensation, I got a 40,000 Rupiah food voucher! A nice touch, though the only outlet I could use it at was McDonalds. Oh well, it was a good thought. The lounge experience was O.K – not a great place to relax or work in, but preferable to sitting in the main terminal – mainly thanks to the beer!
Boarding
After a long, long time plugging away on my laptop in a by now deserted laptop, our flight was called. Boarding was from a gate at the far end of the domestic pier. There is shared security area – which was very peaceful. They also seemed very perfunctory and I’m not sure the metal detector was even working as I managed to walk through with a mobile phone in my pocket without a bleep being made. There was a short queue at the gate, and then we were sent down a flight of steps to board – horror of horrors – a bus! I hate bus transfers as they are always horribly crowded and hot, and this was no exception. In fact, the only civilised one I can remember was with Cathay at Columbo where as the sole business class passenger I got my own bus to take me to the plane!
Once off the bus we were escorted up the stairs and down the airbridge to join the plane.
On board
A DC10? Haven’t flown one of those for a while – not since a highly memorable flight on Biman Bangladesh from Dhaka to Kathmandu with a fine few of Mount Everest on the right hand side.
On this particular configuration, all of the C class seats are located in the forward cabin. The layout is 4 rows of 2x2x2, giving a nice spacious feel to the cabin. The décor is blue and cream, giving a light airy feel, making a rather aged plane feel slightly younger. Seating is in a fairly standard business class seat, with a respectable 50” seat pitch. The recline is not that generous, and the footrest is a rather curious manual contraption made out of aluminium tubes. It looked more like a deckchair to me, but was perfectly serviceable – much like the rest of the seat. Nothing fancy but perfectly acceptable.
Once on board there was a big welcome from the crew, who flittered around like hummingbirds to get a newspaper, pillow (!), juice and a hot towel. The load was light – only 5 in C, and Y was probably no more than 2/3 full. Very different from pre-October last year when getting a seat on a Friday night service to Bali was nigh on impossible I’m told.
Push back was – as advertised – an hour and 20 late. As the flying time is 1h32, the schedule is not in the least bit padded – no ATC delays over central Java! Take off was noisy – a reminder that this is vintage 70’s technology in action. The IFE kicked into action shortly after take off. This consisted of the old-fashioned projector and screen. No headphones were given out and the sound was pumped through the PA system. This meant enduring canned laughter for the entire flight, as the ‘selection’ was a series of inane Candid Camera rip-off programmes. It seemed popular with the rest of the pax – not my cup of tea I’m afraid.
Dinner had been promised on the itinerary, and out it came. Linens were laid, and the starter and main course were served together. The starter was a feeble salad, and there was a choice of curried chicken or curried fish for the main. Both were served with rice and vegetables in a casserole dish. I chose the chicken, which tasted O.K – little more than a glorified economy meal. It took 3 crew to arrange the try and serve me - not a slick routine. Things kept getting dropped and forgotten and I was half way through my meal when the beer turned up! There were also soft drinks on offer, but no wine or champagne sadly.
Lukewarm rock solid rolls were passed around, and then ‘dessert’ was served. It looked like a slime mould garnished with peach slices – I passed on that. The coffee was utterly, utterly vile. A pity that Garuda can’t find anything better, especially as we were flying over Java at the time!
Not long after the tables were cleared, we began our descent into Denpasar. Just time for a quick flick through the in-flight sales magazine – how very 80’s. Lots of dubious local branded stuff and wide selection of Garuda branded bags for sale too. The descent was rapid and we were on stand exactly 1h20 late. The airport is pretty small and it’s only a short walk to the reclaim area. One novelty is that the flight carries International passengers who will clear immigration at DPS. This means all passengers have their BP scrutinised before actually getting into the reclaim area.
The bags came through very quickly, with all the C class bags off first – except mine! It finally put in an appearance as the last bag on the carousel, having given me a few palpitations on the way. Maybe the SQ PPS tags upset the handlers in Jakarta?
All in all, a reasonable performance. The staff are certainly trying hard, but the product they have to work with is patchy – the catering and IFE being woeful. That said, it is a small miracle GA is still flying after all the financial woes they have suffered over the last 6 years, and they are up against world class competition regionally. I would happily fly them again domestically – certainly their safety standards are considered much higher than some of the competition. Internationally, I think I will stick with SQ/CX – GA are way behind and I can’t see them catching up that fast.
May 6, 2003 | 8:30 am
#2
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: USA/Asia
Posts: 379
Good report...agree with most of your comments (except I actually LIKE the humor bits on IFE!)
I used to work in Surabaya so I am quite familiar with CGK and DPS.
Curious, what was the Executive Class fare? Return?
Thx
Carberry
I used to work in Surabaya so I am quite familiar with CGK and DPS.
Curious, what was the Executive Class fare? Return?
Thx
Carberry
May 6, 2003 | 10:14 am
#3
Join Date: May 2002
Location: seattle, wa.
Posts: 927
I flew GA Business Class on SIN-DPS-SIN last year and was very impressed with the service. And you're right the IFE is very primitive and also the seat. However, I still like their seats in C class because it still lay flat although they're not electronic.
