In the last twelve months, five Lion Air pilots or stewardesses have been arrested, either in possession or under the influence of crystal methamphetamine.

A warm welcome for visitors at Indonesia’s airports

While Indonesia has tough penalties against all “recreational” drugs (not only “hard” drugs), there is currently no national system of regular or random drug testing for Indonesian pilots and flight crew, just health and performance checks every six months. However, the arrested pilots have had their licences revoked.

Some are calling for an immediate audit of Lion Air’s management. Such a review might expose a larger problem, such as overwork or involvement by a larger drug ring.

At this time, the airline in question prefers to only “cooperate” with the police, the National Narcotics Board (BNN) and the Department of Civil Aviation to prevent drug abuse amongst its staff.

Traffic on the toll road linking Jakarta to its airport is often impeded or blocked entirely by traffic or flooding.

Welcome to Jakarta

However, this Thursday 9 February 2012 there will be another serious issue:

A protest march

Indonesian trade unions say their members will blockade the Jakarta Airport toll road, plus the toll road to the Merak ferry terminal. It is part of a broader campaign to increase employees’ salaries at the many factories in the outskirts of the city.

While police are talking tough and threatening to arrest demonstrators who “disrupt the public interest”, they were unable to prevent similar action last week on toll roads in East Jakarta and neighbouring West Java – see picture above.

Anyone who plans to fly from Jakarta on Thursday 9 February 2012 is advised to leave early, seek alternative routes such as Jl Daan Mogot, and contact their airline about possible flight disruptions. (Past experience is that domestic flights with no passengers often get delayed or cancelled, while international flights tend to leave as scheduled.)

Even better, you could avoid the problem all together by either staying in a hotel at/near Jakarta Airport the night before, or taking the train instead.

Former Qantas chief economist, Dr Tony Webber, has stirred indignation in Australia with calls for a “fat surcharge” to be applied to overweight passengers because they increase costs through higher jet fuel consumption.

However, what caught the author’s attention was this comment:

In different parts of the world, for example in Indonesia, particularly rural Indonesia, they actually weigh the baggage and the passenger at the same time.

Can anyone vouch for this, through personal experience? If so, which airport/airline/destination?

If not, maybe you can list the smaller/remote airports you have visited, so people can be confident where it does not happen.

As reported in The Jakarta Post, effective 1 January 2012 airlines will need to give money to all passengers affected by delayed, rerouted and cancelled flights.

The earlier objections from the airlines have been addressed to their satisfaction, so Indonesia’s Transport Ministry has pushed ahead with the new policy, originally planned to be implemented in early November.

Passengers will be eligible to get $ in the following situations:

• - Delays of more than 4 hours: Passengers will receive Rp300 000 ($US33) each.
• - Rerouted flights: Passengers will receive Rp150 000 ($US17) each, and the airline must help the passengers reach their original destination.
• - Flights cancelled less than 7 days in advance: Passengers will receive double the value of the ticket, i.e. a full refund plus further compensation of the value of the ticket.

The boring but important fine print:

1. No compensation is necessary for delays beyond the airline’s control, such as: inclement weather, airport issues (e.g. delays refueling, damaged runway), etc.

2. Airlines do not have to pay compensation in cash; they can use ticket vouchers instead. (The latter are not so useful for e.g. tourists who will not be coming back any time soon, and it is 99% likely airlines will give vouchers instead.)

3. Airline do not have to pay the compensation until the day after the flight, probably making it necessary for passengers to make a potentially long and inconvenient return trip to either the airport or an airline ticket office;

Transportation Minister Lt. Gen. (ret.) E.E. Mangindaan hopes that this new policy will help promote Indonesian airlines’ safety and discipline in managing their companies and flight operations.

Of course, it would be better to avoid long delays and cancelled/rerouted flights all together.

To help people know which airlines are the best/worst in this area, Mau Ke Mana has now created an Indonesian domestic airline reliability guide. It will log all the times (starting today, 1 January 2012) that our clients’ flights have been rescheduled or cancelled, how much notice was given and how it affected the client. In conjunction with our more general guide, Which Airline, it is designed to help clients make an informed choice.

In the meantime, a question: If this law was applied retrospectively (i.e. to past Indonesian domestic flights), how much compensation would you be eligible to receive? Feel free to name and shame airlines who have given you problems in the past.

Why Raja Ampat? | Getting There | Practicalities, Hints & Tips | Let’s Go!

Why Raja Ampat?
The Raja Ampat Islands (in West Papua province) are now considered one of the highlights of Indonesia and the next big thing in Indonesian marine tourism circles. Part of the “coral triangle”, they offer amazing diving and snorkelling, as well as secluded beaches and the island’s unique rock formations.

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The latest Lonely Planet guide to Indonesia describes Raja Ampat as having:

some of the best – if not the best – diving in Indonesia
…
It’s like diving in a tropical aquarium!

Getting There

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Its relatively distant and isolated location – see the maps above – is a double-edged sword. The spectacular natural beauty is protected from overexploitation and the crowds of more well-known destinations e.g. Pulau Bunaken (near Manado), but it also means relatively few people are able to enjoy it.

Currently, many flights to the nearest airport – Jefman Airport in Sorong – are overnight. This can potentially leave passengers feeling exhausted and sick; not the best thing before a boat ride.

But now there is an exception:

Unlike their competitors, Express Air flies daily to Sorong (not nightly, not 3 or 4 days/week) from Jakarta, Makassar, Manado, Ambon and Jayapura.

For your convenience, here is the latest schedule (not available on the Express Air website, which was last updated in 2008):

TO SORONG FROM SORONG

*Local time in Sorong is two hours ahead of Jakarta, one hour ahead of Makassar and Manado.

Practicalities, Hints and Tips
1. Flying From Overseas

Now flying to Makassar

Now flying to Manado

Obviously, Jakarta receives the most international flights, but there are other choices. Makassar (a.k.a Ujung Pandang) receives daily Air Asia flights from Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) and the new Garuda flight from Singapore. International visitors can also fly from Singapore direct 4 days/week to Manado on Silk Air. Silk Air is Singapore Airlines’ regional/partner airline, so (like all Silk Air flights) also offers a Singapore Airlines codeshare and earns KrisFlyer points.

2. Accommodation
Whichever airport you choose, it will be necessary to stopover one night. Here are links to hotels at/near the airport in each city: Jakarta, Makassar, Manado.

3. Baggage Allowances
Express Air flights from/to Jakarta and Makassar use Boeing 737 aircraft (right), and have a 20kg baggage allowance. However, flights to/from Manado use smaller Dornier 328 planes, and have a 10kg baggage allowance. If you are bringing your own diving gear, it would be better to fly from Jakarta or Makassar.

4. Travel Permit (Surat Jalan)
Officially, all foreign visitors to non-metropolitan areas in West Papua province need to obtain a travel permit (in Indonesian, “surat jalan”) when they arrive from the local police station. In Sorong, the nearest one is called Polresta Sorong and is 1km west of the airport. You need to bring:

• - Photocopies of the passport photo/information page and the page with your current Indonesian visa
• - Two passport photos
• - Your passport

There is no fee. After you get the travel permit – usually about one hour later – get some photocopies of it made, enough to give one copy to each place/hotel you will visit.

Let’s Go!
Would you like to visit Raja Ampat? If you’re interested, please fill in an enquiry form.

Or if you have a question, please ask below.

Now that Garuda Indonesia’s budget airline Citilink is winning awards and some would say, more importantly market share from its low-cost competitors, two Indonesian domestic airlines are planning to challenge Garuda’s virtual monopoly on the full-service market.

Indonesia’s most popular domestic airline is going to launch a new full-service airline in 2013: Space Jet. Some of the promised services include in-flight internet and audio/video on demand, although the former might not be free. It is not known how this will impact the business class service currently available on selected Lion Air flights. Space Jet also plans to commence international services in 2014.

Meanwhile, another airline is looking to copy emulate Lion Air’s current set-up of a small business class section at the front of some planes:

Their new Boeing 737-800 aircraft – arriving in September 2012 – will have four rows of business class seating. Other benefits are still to be finalised, but are said to include in-flight meals and a pre-departure executive lounge. The latter benefit is currently only available to members of Sriwijaya Air’s little-known frequent flyer program.

It is not known how Garuda Indonesia will respond to the increased competition domestically, but internationally they are already taking it to the next level. For the first time, starting in 2013 Garuda will offer a first class cabin, called “super first class”. Super first class will be available in its new Boeing 777 aircraft, for non-stop flights to e.g. Amsterdam, capital city of the Netherlands.

While other airlines around the world either reduce in-flight services or begin charging fees for them, it is interesting that some previously no-frills Indonesian airlines are heading in the opposite direction. As well as a desire to challenge Garuda, it might be a response to the increasing prosperity of the population, further evidence of the strong passenger growth in the Indonesian airline industry, or just a desire to do something different and stick out from the crowd of other domestic airlines.

However, Indonesia is yet to have an all business-class aircraft or airline.

Former all business class airlines, now all bankrupt

While business class only airlines in the USA and Europe have all either gone bankrupt or changed to a multi-class service, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines do operate profitable all business class international flights.

An all business class aircraft/airline could feasibly work on Indonesia’s most popular domestic flight: Jakarta to Surabaya. This route is ranked #5 on the list of World’s Busiest Passenger Air Routes in terms of flights per week.

Since Garuda Indonesia ceased flying between Surabaya and Singapore in 2009, only Singapore-based airlines (plus China Airlines of Taipei) have flown this route.

However, now Lion Air will provide some local cut-price competition:

Why choose Lion Air?

#1 Price, Value for Money
At the price advertised above (Rp550 000 = $US60), Lion Air will be far cheaper than Singapore-based budget airline, Valuair. And yet Lion Air’s fare includes a 20kg checked baggage allowance, unlike Valuair. Lion Air’s aircraft on this route – Boeing 737-900ER – are also newer.

#2 Schedule
Similarly, other airline’s flight schedules on this route are either more suitable for Singaporeans than Indonesians (e.g. Silk Air), or designed more for the airline than the passengers (e.g. China Airlines). But now Lion Air also offers departure/arrival times that are friendlier to Indonesian passengers.

Here is a comparison of the four airlines’ schedules:

Airline
Departs Surabaya at:	08:00	16:40	10:00, 18:40	06:05
Lands in Singapore* at:	11:20	19:50	13:15, 21:55	09:25
Departs Singapore* at:	12:10	14:35	07:50, 16:30	21:45
Lands in Surabaya at:	13:30	16:00	09:10, 17:50	23:00
Days Of Operation:	Every day	Every day, except Wed	Every day	Every day

*Local time in Singapore is one hour ahead of Surabaya

To book a flight from Surabaya to Singapore, please fill in this booking enquiry.

Babullah Airport has been closed indefinitely due to the eruption of neighbouring Mt Gamalama.

The airport serves Ternate and neighbouring areas of North Maluku. When operating normally, it receives several flights from Manado (North Sulawesi) and Makassar (South Sulawesi), and less frequently from Jakarta and Ambon (Maluku).

Ternate is a relatively remote and often overlooked part of the Indonesian archipelago, despite the scenery of neighbouring Maitara and Tidore islands being deemed beautiful and note-worthy enough to appear on the Rp1000 banknote.

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In centuries past, as well as its volcano, Ternate was famous for its spices, especially its cloves. The area was called the “Spice Islands” for this reason. At various times in history, it was controlled by the Dutch, English or French, who fought the local Sultan as well as each other. But since clove trees were smuggled out of the region and planted elsewhere by the English in the early 1800s, Ternate’s trade and economic value/importance has declined.

Early artists’ views of Ternate

These days, North Maluku province has earned a new reputation for its potential nickel reserves. It is also home to the world’s largest bee.

As the country’s only full-service airline, Garuda Indonesia tends to be one of the more expensive airlines for domestic flights.

However, Garuda occasionally offers some discounted fares that allow passengers to enjoy Garuda’s benefits at a similar price to its competitors.

Now is one such time:

Throughout December, Garuda is offering promo/special fares for flights in February 2012 on many domestic routes. Some of them include:

Jakarta to Batam / Denpasar (Bali) / Medan, plus
Denpasar (Bali) to Makassar / Mataram (Lombok)

Please note that these special fares are usually only available through the Garuda website. This is problem for many potential customers; as described here, the Garuda website either doesn’t accept or doesn’t work with most international (non-Indonesian) credit cards. The cheapest fares are also usually not available through conventional travel agents.

However, Mau Ke Mana can purchase these fares at the special website rate. Even better, the passenger also does not have to present the credit card used in the transaction when checking in, avoiding a potential problem when buying a ticket for a friend or family member.

The important fine print:

- Prices include all taxes and charges except airport tax, and are subject to availability.
- Date of Issue: 01 December 2011 – 31 December 2011
- Date of Travel: 01 February 2012 – 29 February 2012
- Application: Valid for travelling one way and return

If you would like to fly Garuda for less in February, please fill in this booking enquiry.

In a surprise result, Citilink defeated larger competitors – Air Asia Indonesia, Batavia Air and Sriwijaya Air – to win the Indonesian Travel and Tourism Awards prize for Leading Low-Cost Airline 2011/2012.

Citilink management was unavailable for comment about their success, but their good-looking single female flight attendants were probably quite excited:

What is so good about Citilink?

Citilink is a budget airline operated by Indonesia’s national carrier, Garuda Indonesia. It is a similar set-up to Qantas and Jetstar; Garuda is a full-service airline for those who wish to travel in comfort, while Citilink is a no-frills airline for the budget-conscious.

Citilink shares a lot of the good stuff from its big brother:

• - It is permitted to fly in EU airspace.
• - It uses arguably the best aircraft maintenance facilities in the country.
• - It is ranked #1 with Garuda for on-time performance.

Being a budget airline, it is often significantly cheaper than Garuda, especially when booking a longer time in advance. Yet passengers still have a free 20kg checked baggage allowance, and no hidden/extra fees for seat-selection, fuel surcharge, etc. Food and drinks are available for sale on board; unlike Air Asia you do not need to pre-order it.

To compare Citilink with other Indonesian domestic airlines in more detail, please see here.

Citilink used to operate all its flights out of Surabaya, but later started several flights from Jakarta. Here is a current route map:

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The future for Citilink

Citilink recently started receiving new Airbus A320 planes. The Jakarta Post reports that in 2012 Citilink will use this larger fleet to:

• - Fly its existing routes (see map above) more frequently.
• - Commence flights between Jakarta and the following cities: Palembang (South Sumatra), Pekanbaru (Riau) and Yogyakarta (Central Java).
• - Serve 4 million passengers, roughly double this year’s projected figure.

The future certainly seems more promising than for last year’s winner: the now-defunct Mandala Air.

How to fly with Citilink?

It is easy. Just fill in this enquiry form and select Citilink as your preferred airline.