The Concordia Lounge is a chain of airport lounges operated by the Indonesian airport operator, Angkasa Pura. Being owned by the airport operator, it is no surprise that the lounge opened around the same as the airport’s inauguration in 2019. In addition, Concordia notably has an effective monopoly at the airport, being the only lounge operator in both the domestic and international sections of the airport.

Lounge Access

Being the only lounge in the airport, it is no surprise that Garuda Indonesia sends their premium passengers here. Specifically, Business Class passengers and eligible frequent flyers on Garuda Indonesia are invited to use this lounge. Paid access to the Concordia Lounge is also available for any departing passenger for a price of IDR145,000 (~USD9, GBP7). Alternatively, the lounge also grants access to a bunch of Indonesian credit cards, though international lounge access schemes like Priority Pass or LoungeKey are notably absent.

Location

The domestic Concordia Lounge is located post-security, in the gate area of the departures hall. After making your way past the annoying retail shop maze, turn right towards the direction of Gate 2 and 3. Walk straight to the end of the terminal, stopping just short of Gate 3. Here, you’ll find the Concordia Lounge placed next to Old Town White Coffee.

Concordia Lounge Yogyakarta

I headed to the Concordia Lounge Yogyakarta after checking out the stores at the airport. Admittedly, I wasn’t sure about my access eligibility as a SkyTeam Elite Plus member flying domestically. This is despite being advised at check-in that I was entitled to access the lounge. Surprisingly (or not), I was welcomed as a gold-tier frequent flyer after presenting my boarding pass at the reception. Notably, however, guests are not permitted.

Lounge Seating

Most of the Concordia Lounge is composed of one large sitting area surrounding the budget spread. However, as you make your way past the reception, you’ll find twelve seats placed in the otherwise empty space on the corridor going into the lounge.

Interior seats

The corridor then opens into the main lounge area, where you’ll find most seats and the dining spread. Of that, there is a cluster of sofa chairs arranged by the interior wall. It features five rows of sofa chairs facing each other, each separated by a console table.

There is also another identical arrangement of five rows of sofa chairs behind the first one. As I settled down here, I started noticing the confusing style of the lounge, which appears to have a questionable and inharmonious combination of modern geometrical shapes and traditional patterns.

Despite being less than five years old, the mishmash of style made the lounge feel very outdated as a result. I also noticed that the lounge doesn’t feel very cold, especially compared to the rest of the terminal. At the very least, I appreciate that there is a Type C power outlet on the console for each seat.

There are more of the same sofa chairs tucked into one corner to the far end of the lounge. However, this section is interestingly cordoned off from the rest of the lounge. I’m guessing it is closed to avoid the additional areas to be cleaned, given the low occupancy.

Window side seats

There are a bunch of more sofa chairs placed liberally around the window side. As these seats are standalone, they understandably do not have access to power outlets. In addition, there are also hightop work tables by the window, each of which has access to a power outlet. I’ll note that despite having many windows, the lounge sadly does not view the apron. As such there isn’t much to see out the windows.

Again, the lounge’s strange mishmash of styles continues in this area. Here, there are colourful chairs, mixed in with grass-textured carpeting, and a wall mural depicting temples and plants. While I’m sure each of these elements looks good on its own, I can’t say they look good together. As such, this left me thinking that the lounge does not have a great vibe.

Finally, at the very end are several more rows of sofa chairs, arranged either facing the window or each other. This area is fully carpeted and blue-themed, making it the tamest part of the lounge in terms of design. Is it surprising that most of the lounge’s patrons were seated here?

Dining

A dedicated seating area with proper dining tables is located in the corridor between the reception and the lounge. This dining area consists of a handful of tables without a fixed setup. As such, it is possible to move around the tables and the chairs to seat a party as needed. Well, at least that’s what I saw with the patrons at the lounge.

Food selection

The sole food spread takes up the central area of the lounge. This consists of three islands, each dedicated to a certain category of food or drink. I’ll go through them one by one.

First of all, though, there is a cute-looking street cart that features a platter of vegetable fritters. Complementing that is a traditional herbal remedy called Beras Kencur made from rice. The drink is said to be good for digestion and overall vitality.

Taking the central island is the choice of four heavy dishes and two soups. Despite that, don’t get your hopes up as the selection is quite disappointing. During my visit, the dishes included steamed rice, vegetable soup, dry tempeh, and coconut milk-stewed chicken. To put it nicely, this is perhaps as bare as you could get in an Indonesian airport lounge.

In addition, there are also two kinds of soup. During my visit, they included Bubur Kacang Hijau and Soto Ayam. The former is a sweet soup made of mung beans served with coconut milk, whereas the latter is an Indonesian chicken soup. I sampled a small bowl of the lukewarm soto and sadly didn’t find it good at all.

Finally, there is also a choice of fried rice vermicelli, steamed plantains, steamed sweet potatoes, and toast in the final station. These are accompanied by a basic choice of Indonesian cakes (kue) and crisps in jars. While the fritters and the steamed bananas and sweet potatoes were good, virtually everything else was not. They either felt stale, poor-quality, or sadly both.

Drinks

The buffet spread has a separate island dedicated to drinks, located closest to the dining area seating. Provisioned here is a two hot traditional herbal drinks, which include Wedang Jahe and Wedang Secang. There is also a selection of tea bags and powdered coffee, alongside a hot water dispenser.

I’m sure this is very disappointing for coffee drinkers, as the lounge couldn’t even offer a coffee machine. Heck, even the similarly-priced Blue Sky Lounge Terminal 1A in Jakarta offers barista-prepared coffee! As such, this is perhaps as basic as you could get from an airport lounge.

Next to the selection of tea and coffee is also a choice of a retro-looking green pudding as well as an ‘Es Buah’. The latter is a concoction of canned fruits served in a pool of syrup-sweetened condensed milk. These weren’t great.

Finally, there is also a choice of mineral water, infused water, orange juice, and apple juice that come in dispensers. Expectedly, the juices tasted artificial and sweetened. Having gone over the entire spread, I felt that both the food and drink selection were very bleak and disappointing.

Amenities

Business Centre

Located at the far end of the seating area are a pair of iMac computers set up on a high-top table overlooking the windows. While they looked nice, they weren’t turned on during my visit. I don’t believe that there is a printer that could be used in conjunction with these computers, either.

Entertainment

The Concordia Lounge interestingly maintains an entertainment-streaming contract with Tripper. This is the same home-grown streaming application used by Pelita Air, Batik Air, Lion Air, and Super Air Jet. For one, I’d have to commend Concordia for offering such a service, which I haven’t seen at any other airport lounge before.

After downloading the application and registering, the streaming service can be used by connecting to the lounge’s network. Regardless, if my experience with Tripper on Pelita Air and Batik Air still holds true, the selection won’t be anything special. Well, unless you like playing Flappy Bird… 😉

Meeting Rooms

A couple of meeting rooms are available in the Concordia Lounge. The meeting rooms are located next to the window-side seats near the food spread. Each small room consists of a circular table with three rolling chairs. These rooms are free-to-use and would be useful for a conference call.

Relaxation Area

Located towards the far end of the lounge are a couple of small relaxation areas. The first one is exposed to the rest of the lounge and features three lounge chairs with a small table attached to each seat. Due to its lack of privacy, it does seem like a rather awkward setup for relaxation.

Across from the three exposed lounge chairs is a narrow space with six recliner chairs. Unlike the first area, this one is a lot more private, with each seat facing the wall and having semi-private shields. Given how it’s slightly darker than the rest of the lounge, this might be a decent place to take a nap.

Reflexology

Located next to the dining area is a small Reflexology area that supposedly provides foot massages. As is often the case at most South East Asian airport lounges, I would assume that the treatments are paid for. Despite that, I did not see a price list, or even a masseuse for that matter. In fact, the area was dark and unoccupied for my entire visit to the Concordia Lounge.

Retail Shop

Located in the corridor between the entrance and the lounge is a retail shop selling traditional batik clothing. The shop seems to be leased to a company called Yus Zam Batik, which I’ve never heard of before. Regardless, despite there being a full collection on display, I was surprised to see nobody watching over the shop.

VIP Rooms

Across from the retail shop is a corridor where you’ll find the lounge’s three VIP rooms. Each room consists of conference-style seating, consisting of two rows of sofa chairs, facing each other. It isn’t clear if these rooms are free-to-use or could be reserved. However, when I visited, two of the rooms were being used for what I assumed was a travelling party of high-ranking police.

WiFi

The Concordia Lounge has its own password-protected WiFi network, separate from the terminal. Despite the low occupancy of the lounge, I found the network speed to be mediocre, at best.

Toilets

Located down the corridor behind the dining area are the toilets, which are separated by gender. Despite being a bit dark, I found the toilet to be relatively clean and free from foul odours. For one, however, I did feel that the floor pattern made the toilet seem dirty even it it wasn’t. In any case, I appreciate that the toilet stalls are fitted with bidet-equipped toilets.

Overall

Overall, I found the domestic Concordia Lounge at Yogyakarta International Airport to be a mediocre airport lounge. Although I appreciate its many facilities, I just didn’t find the lounge very comfortable. Outside the eerily empty vibe, I just felt that the overall atmosphere inside the lounge wasn’t great. In fact, I found the seats by the departure gate to be marginally better than the lounge. Coupled with the second-rate food selection, I’d personally pass on this lounge and find a café in the terminal instead.

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