Review of Garuda Indonesia flight from Surabaya to Jakarta in Economy

GIA

GA - Garuda Indonesia

Flight taken on 19 January 2018
GA319
20:00 02h 00m 22:00
Class Economy
Seat 38K
anaknegeri
767 · 105 · 2 · 3

Hello friends! Welcome to my report.
Firstly, as usual, sorry for my bad English, and also bad quality of the photos as I took all of them by my cellphone.
The flight happened at January 19th, 2018 as my returning flight from Surabaya to Jakarta. There is no report for Jakarta-Surabaya leg because I went to Surabaya by intercity train. For the Surabaya-Jakarta leg, I decided to try Garuda's wide-body plane, the Airbus A330. Based on my observation, Garuda operates 3 flights with A330 on this route daily.
Before the main report, let me describe a little bit about SURABAYA. Capital of East Java Province and Indonesia's 2nd largest city after Jakarta, personally for me Surabaya is one of best places to live. Clean roads and pedestrians (thanks to Mayor Tri Rismaharini) and lots of delicious foods always make me miss this city. Many tourists designate this city as starting point to popular sights like the Mount Bromo, Mount Ijen, Malang & Batu City, Madura Island, Banyuwangi, and others, but Surabaya itself offers interesting places, especially Kenjeran Beach and sights related to Battle of 10 November against Dutch Army & its allies.
Surabaya's only air transport gateway is Juanda International Airport, which offers mainly domestic flights and some international flights.
International destinations from the airport are:
- Singapore (Garuda Indonesia, Singapore Airlines, Silkair, China Airlines, Scoot, Jetstar)
- Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia Airlines, Lion Air, AirAsia)
- Penang (AirAsia)
- Johor Bahru (AirAsia)
- Brunei (Royal Brunei)
- Hong Kong (Cathay Pacific)
- Taipei (China Airlines through Singapore)
- seasonal umra/hajj flights to Jeddah (Garuda Indonesia, Saudia)
Enough for the introduction, now we're entering the main story.
JANUARY 19th, 2018
From the central area of Surabaya, I took "Damri" bus to a school close to CITO Mall, then I ordered "Gojek" motorbike taxi from the school to Juanda Airport. Actually the Damri bus continues to Bungurasih Bus Terminal where you can take the airport bus, but you will reach the airport later than by motorbike.
Damri bus.

photo 41839848452_50c0b9ea6d_b


Way to the airport.

photo 41839847302_1753b6d85b_b


photo 40075206990_9b682af45d_b


Reaching the airport at 2.20 p.m. About 40 minutes before scheduled boarding time.


photo 40075205940_f80c170b9e_bphoto 40075205010_1b88c5ce8a_bphoto 41882222431_4a11830a3c_b

Flight schedule.

photo 40075204160_3f2fd77947_b


Mini-garden.

photo 41839842642_e8615d1f99_b


Cultural assets of East Java: "Reog" dance from Ponorogo and "Karapan Sapi" (cow racing) from Madura Island.

photo 41839841692_339d61d370_b


Check-in counters.



As I had done the online check-in, the only thing to do here was to print the boarding pass.

photo 27229997367_4808ec3885_b


Then I proceeded to the departure gates.

photo 28012887678_df6467b7fa_b


"Tous les Jours" a Korean-based bakery chain owned by C&J, a well-known "chaebol" (conglomerate) company.

photo 28012888588_bc83bb8c19_b


Burger King also existed here, so did Starbucks.

photo 28012885318_6fe3ffa2f7_b


photo 41839836802_599d329f03_b


The waiting hall.

photo 28012882608_99425bed16_b


photo 28012885088_a893e9f4ed_b


As usual, Garuda is always proud as Skyteam member.

photo 41839835962_55673a85b3_b


Garuda's lounge.

photo 28012880178_7a0a4eeefc_b


Don't need to worry about your gadgets' batteries.

photo 41882343491_063d9a6695_b

photo 41882342941_8516a608b8_b


Free-to-use PCs. As a Linux user, I'm really happy to see public computers with Ubuntu OS here.

photo 41882342461_f41f44fd08_b


photo 28012880728_93196bb59c_b


Suddenly the heavy rain dropped and the Garuda fleet which was designated for my flight couldn't land at Surabaya and need to divert to Denpasar, Bali.
The airport speaker announced the flight delay, then in line with Indonesian regulation, the airline provided me and all passengers a snack set containing a cheese cake, a beef burger, and a small bottle of water.

photo 41165384414_6ec07d4621_b


Until 7.00 p.m., about 3.5 hours after the scheduled departure time, the flight was still uncertain. Then another snack set was provided: a burger, a bread, and mineral water.

photo 41165383674_3e947d6186_b


Some passengers started complaining to the staffs because we didn't expect that the delay would be very long like this. Many of them had missed their connecting flight.
Finally at 7.15 p.m. we were called for boarding.

photo 41165382844_1edf39f124_b


photo 41165381834_a06c48ee74_b


Before entering the airplane, an A330 of Cathay Pacific was preparing for departure back to Hong Kong.

photo 40075172180_3cc018c22a_b


Free newspaper to take provided by Garuda.

photo 40075170270_8b2b99a862_b


Entering the business class area.

photo 40075169960_d4e29949b1_b


photo 40075168930_0dd768a8d6_b


Economy class, my area.


photo 41882329361_02483326dc_bphoto 41882328391_9cd3e7c58b_bphoto 41882327531_238ac9e142_b

Seat pitch.

photo 41165248304_69d3842730_b


The IFE could be explored before take-off. But some minutes after that, an error happened to the IFE and cabin crews started the safety instructions manually without video.



Take-off at 8.20 p.m.


photo 27014224757_9d2fdb535f_bphoto 41165351684_3fcfa869bf_bphoto 28012841728_1fa00792c2_b

The IFE was back to normal again just after take-off, and I chose to watch "Petualangan Sherina", an Indonesian children movie released in 2001.

photo 41165347394_0bb936e0d2_b


photo 28012840418_4c18ac7c64_b


Time to check all stuff inside the seat pocket.

photo 41165338474_0d40635270_b


photo 41165337694_8b7447687e_b


"Stars" IFE guide.

photo 41839775272_c651fe0c33_b


photo 28012825738_65263217cb_b


"Colours" magazine.



The cabin crews started serving snacks and drinks. No meal set because this wasn't long flight, less than 2 hours.

photo 28012807778_9d9cf18cc8_b


Then I continued exploring the IFE.



Headphones were provided.

photo 41165327524_3364d993d5_b


An unique quiz called "Planet Pulse", where we had to answer the questions about world cities.

photo 27014179187_2852962d18_b


photo 41839679172_a628ecabdc_b


Not forget to check the lavatory.

photo 41839702252_b49e6188f8_b


photo 40075076100_3058d8c883_b


The weather was good, we didn't face any shock or turbulence.
Then the night panorama of Jakarta began to be seen.

photo 40983736995_193353a35a_b


photo 28012785268_4cb08a9714_b


Touching Soekarno-Hatta Airport's runway at 9.55 p.m.



The plane reached Terminal 3, initially dedicated for Garuda but now jointly used by other international carriers and even LCCs.
Last shots of the plane's interior.


photo 40983712305_98167cd140_bphoto 27014145887_7ce60e9f96_bphoto 28012749958_9394e7b400_b

Outside the window.

photo 41165264834_d942c04358_b


Garuda PK-GPN which brought me back to Jakarta.

photo 40075068750_309c5b70b4_b


photo 40075068270_9fe75316b7_b


Way to the baggage carousel.



After claiming my bag, I left the airport to catch airport bus to reach my lovely house. I still didn't have any reason to stay longer at this airport.

photo 28012737238_034d78655f_b

Display all

Product ratings

Airline

Garuda Indonesia 7.0

  • Cabin7.5 / 10
  • Cabin crew7.0 / 10
  • Entertainment/wifi7.0 / 10
  • Meal/catering6.5 / 10
Departure airport

Surabaya - SUB7.4

  • Efficiency7.0 / 10
  • Access7.0 / 10
  • Services7.5 / 10
  • Cleanliness8.0 / 10
Arrival Airport

Jakarta - CGK6.5

  • Efficiency7.0 / 10
  • Access6.0 / 10
  • Services7.0 / 10
  • Cleanliness6.0 / 10

Conclusion

Of course I'm disappointed with the 5.5-hours delay, but I couldn't blame anyone because it was caused by heavy rain. But the way Garuda's staffs facing the complaining passengers needs to be improved. They should explain clearly in details about the reasons why the flight was delayed. It was actually because Garuda didn't have stored A330s in Surabaya to operate the flight, so that they had to wait until the plane arrived after diverted to Bali.

Juanda Airport, Surabaya:
The Terminal 2 is clean and well-maintained with enough facilities to accompany you while waiting before departure. Honestly, I think the airport is cleaner than Soekarno-Hatta Airport. But there are still many things to be improved, especially the public transport options. Express buses operate from the airport to Bungurasih Bus Terminal and Gresik, and I think they are still not enough because no bus routes to Surabaya city center.

Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Jakarta:
There have been many criticisms about Terminal 3 of Soekarno-Hatta Airport. Bad masterplan and design, especially in the arrival area, I didn't feel the "aura" of an international gateway of a national capital. But the facilities are good enough for passengers. The service also seems good.

Thanks for reading my report! Hope you enjoy it!

Did you enjoy reading this?

Let the author know by sharing a clap! It will be greatly appreciated!

3 Clap

anaknegeri 's latest reviews

Comments (2)

  • Hi,

    Thanks for this interesting and well written report! The A330 seems enjoyable for such a short flight.

    I'd be happy to see pictures of Surabaya... maybe as a bonus for a next report? :) Nice catch for the computer running with Ubuntu. I also find the snacks offered at the airport due to the delay quite nice... do you know if it a choice of Garuda, or if the Indonesian regulations are specific about this?

    • Hello.

      Yes, wide body jets like the A330 in short flights are always interesting.

      And this is the Indonesian regulation about the compensation upon flight delays:

      30-60 minutes: drinks

      1-2 hours: snacks

      2-3 hours: meal set

      3-4 hours: meal set + snacks

      4 hours: IDR 300,000 voucher / cash

      The regulation is not strictly applied, but passengers are able to claim this compensation if they want to.

      Thanks for your comment.

Login to post a comment.
Flight-Report

Ad Blocker Detected

Flight-Report is a free website hosting more than 500 000 pictures and 17 000 reviews, without ads, this website can't exist.

If you enjoy our website, we would greatly appreciate it if you could disable your ad blocker to support us. Thank you for your help and understanding!

How to Allow Flight-Report.com?