Garuda Indonesia

The route between Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta is not only a busy one but also well served by a whole list of airlines both full-service and low-cost. They include the national carriers of both countries, Malaysia Airlines and Garuda Indonesia, European airlines like KLM and Lufthansa, Middle-eastern airlines Kuwait Airways and Yemenia (KUL to CGK only), Low cost AirAsia, LionAir and Malindo Air. I have used Malaysia Airlines, KLM, AirAsia, LionAir and Malindo Air for this route and finally I decided to try Garuda Indonesia. This would be my first international flight with Garuda as all my previous trips with them have been domestic flights between CGK and DPS and those flights were very good.

Booking was done online and ticket purchased for RM389 return. Internet check-in was available 24 hours before departure which I took advantage of, using it to secure an aisle seat on what was to be a full flight. I will review the inflight service of both flights as one. This first part of the trip report will just cover pre and post flight.

FLIGHT: GA821
AIRCRAFT TYPE: B737-8U3
REG: PK-GMA

Check-in was handled by Malaysia Airlines. Arrived 2 hours to departure and there was hardly a line at the check-in counter with the whole transaction taking less than 5 minutes.

Took my time to get to the satellite terminal gate C11. The aircraft was already at the gate when I arrived but was shocked to see the very slow and long line for security check.

PK-GMA has been with Garuda for more than 5 and half years

The security screening was very slow

 By the time I cleared security, boarding had already started.

Arrival in Jakarta was on-time but we were parked at a remote parking bay and were transferred by bus to Terminal 2.

Remote parking bay at CGK

What happened next was the only complaint I had about both flights, the agonizing 50 minute wait for baggage. To be fair this is a problem that all airlines face at Jakarta airport, but the long distance from the remote bay to Terminal 2 made it even worst.

FLIGHT:GA818
AIRCRAFT TYPE: B737-8U3
REG: PK-GMR

I used mobile check-in this time and it only gave about 10 seat options indicating what I thought was once again a full-flight. I picked an aisle seat 29H. Arrived 4 hours before departure and check-in was smooth and took less than 2 minutes.

I arrived at the departure gate 1 hour before STD and was surprised to learn that it was in fact a very empty flight with only 80 passengers. The ground staff kindly assisted in changing my seat to the back of the aircraft where I could have the whole row to myself.

PK-GMR has been with Garuda since September 2010

 Departure and arrival was on-time with baggage wait at KLIA not too long. Below is the video of the push back, taxi and take-off.

BOARDING

On both flights the pursers were at the door welcoming passengers with their "Salam Garuda Indonesia" which is placing their palms together at chest level and bowing. Along the aisle, there were crew welcoming and assisting passengers.

Crew standing by to assists and welcome passengers

Newspapers were placed at both the door and also at the rear bulkhead for passengers to help themselves.

Newspapers available through out the flight at both sides of the rear bulkhead

Once seated, the usual welcome announcements were made in Bahasa Indonesia and English. While this was going on, something unheard of on the other airlines flying this route, welcome drinks of orange juice were served to the passengers in economy class.

Welcome drinks being served on ground

Welcome drinks served once all boarded

This was followed by the safety video in both Bahasa Indonesia and English. A nice touch was at the end of the safety video the crew lined up along the aisle and once again thanked us with a "Salam Garuda" bow.

SEAT

The seat pitch was a comfortable and generous 32", the same as Malindo and better than MAS and the low-cost carriers.

Each seat comes with a pillow. The headrest has adjustable height and the headrest "wings" can be adjusted too for additional support. The colours of dark and light brown accented by the turquoise headrest covers and pillows add that pop colour to brighten the feel of the cabin.

Excellent legroom

Each seat pocket has a safety card, air sickness bag, Colours which is the inflight magazine, Arcade their inflight shopping catalogue, Stars the inflight entertainment booklet and Holidays the Garuda holiday package catalogue. The headphone were also placed in the seat pocket.

Each seat also a touch screen TV monitor for inflight entertainment and information. While not as extensive as Emirates it is alright for a short flight like this.

Pillows are provided at every seat but blankets are available on request.

INFLIGHT SERVICE

About 15 minutes after the seatbelt sign is switched off, meal service starts from the front, middle and back of the aircraft. This is also where Garuda excels, providing far better than the sandwich or sad meat roll from Malaysia Airlines. Plus it is a welcome to have metal cutlery in economy class. The meals comes with 2 choices of main course, a salad and a desert. A bread roll with butter and a selection of coffee & Tea, juices and wines complement the meal. On the flight to Jakarta it was a seafood noodle or a very tasty Chicken with a satay like sauce and on the return flight, Chicken with potatoes or a beef rendang served with yellow rice.

An Asian coleslaw and a lemon mouse with chocolate and raspberry base.

Chicken with a peanut satay like sauce

Metal cutlery and a wet tissue are a nice extra touch

A carrot salad and butter cake

Beef rendang with nasi kuning

Once all the meal trays were distributed, they crew returned offering drinks again. They then returned to clear the trays and kept checking the cabin to collect the bit's and pieces.

The toilet was kept clean by the crew checking and cleaning after passengers vacate the toilet. The toilets also come with hand lotion and eau de toilette.

When the landing announcement was made, the crew once again lined up on the aisle to bow and extend their thanks to the passengers which I thought was a very special and humble gesture.

Garuda reminded me of how MAS was in the 90's, a great product with friendly and hard working crew. They may not operate with the precision efficiency of the likes of Singapore Airlines, but the casual charm and friendliness of the crew make them so much more better. Garuda is certainly an airline to look out for and I will certainly fly with them again.