Being a prestige route of sorts, Garuda Indonesia often flies its long-haul widebody planes on its flights to Singapore. I have flown both the airline’s newest Airbus A330-900neo and the oldest Airbus A330-300 Business Class on this route. As I rushed to book this flight, I didn’t think twice and assumed that it would feature the older configuration. Colour me surprised when I found out we’d be flying on a newer ‘Super Diamond’ A330.

Booking Garuda Indonesia

Owing to my last-minute reroute to Singapore – courtesy of SriLankan Airlines – I rushed to find a way to make my way home to Jakarta. Before long, I found availability for this flight on Air France-KLM’s Flying Blue. Quickly, I booked the flight for a reasonable 15,000 miles and IDR 1,271,900 (~ USD 75, GBP 56). Alternatively, you can also redeem this flight via GarudaMiles for a consistent 22,500 miles.

Check-in

Garuda Indonesia operates from Terminal 3 at Singapore Changi Airport, conveniently alongside codeshare partner Singapore Airlines. A set of check-in desks serves the airline’s customers all day on Row 5 by Door 4. For this 15.20 departure, I arrived a leisurely three hours early – having checked out from the nearby Dusit Thani Laguna.

Both the SkyPriority and Economy Class lines were sparsely populated, so there wasn’t much of a wait to get checked in. Before long, I was served by a friendly check-in agent, who promptly checked my bags in and printed my boarding pass. She also handed me an invitation to the Marhaba Lounge, which is used for Garuda Indonesia’s premium passengers.

Lounge

As mentioned above, Garuda Indonesia contracts the Marhaba Lounge Terminal 3 for its premium passengers and frequent flyers departing from Singapore Changi Airport. The lounge itself is serviceable and miles nicer than the awful Marhaba Lounge Terminal 1; however, it is still leagues behind neighbouring lounges like the excellent SilverKris Lounge. With its mediocre seating and subpar food, I’d frankly prefer to spend my time walking about the terminal instead. Read my review of the Marhaba Lounge Terminal 3 here.

Boarding

Having bored myself, I decided to head straight to our gate, A20, at the very end of Terminal 3’s eastern concourse. After clearing the security checkpoint outside the gate, I was disappointed to find out that our departure time had been delayed by 15 minutes due to the late arrival of our aircraft. Sure enough, a Garuda Indonesia Airbus A330-300 did pull into the gate at the printed boarding time – though not just any A330!

I was genuinely excited to see that our flight was being operated by PK-GHD, an Airbus A330-300 delivered in May 2016 featuring the airline’s retro 1965 livery! Obviously, with any turnaround, there was another 30 minutes or so before boarding would actually commence; however, the sheer aura of this gorgeous plane really helped in distracting me. Swoon!

Boarding was called at 15.22, with passengers requiring special assistance boarded three minutes prior. As expected, Business Class and other SkyPriority passengers were invited to board first. Finally! After my long and convoluted trip, it definitely felt nice to be boarding a Garuda Indonesia flight back home. At the door, I was greeted with a ‘Selamat Datang’ by Gita, who promptly showed me to my seat.

Garuda Indonesia Super Diamond A330 Cabin

Our flight today is operated by Garuda’s newest Airbus A330-300s, with 24 flatbed seats in Business Class and 277 seats in Economy Class. Improving on the cabin used on the airline’s older A330-300s, this configuration introduces direct aisle access in Business Class.

Business Class

Business Class features 24 reverse herringbone seats, taking up the space between Doors 1 and 2, with six rows. This presents a reduction and optimisation in the size from Garuda’s older A330 Business Class cabin, which has a premium-heavy configuration of 36 seats.

Our aircraft was equipped with Garuda Indonesia’s Super Diamond cabin, which was introduced to much fanfare in 2016. This supersedes Garuda’s older A330s, which have B/E Aerospace Minipods in Business Class, first introduced during the airline’s renaissance in 2009.

As its name suggests, the Business Class cabin features seats based on the popular Collins Aerospace Super Diamond reverse herringbone seating. These are the same seats you’ll find on numerous airlines, including China Airlines, American Airlines, Fiji Airways, Qatar Airways, Saudia, etc.

Thanks to its 1-2-1 configuration, each seat has direct aisle access, thus preventing the need to jump over someone when you get out of your seat. Furthermore, the Super Diamond centre seats are angled in a way that makes it easier to talk to a companion – at least compared to the Zodiac Cirrus version of the seat. Unfortunately, it seems that Garuda has omitted installing privacy dividers between them, thus potentially making things awkward when seated next to a stranger.

Seat details

On this flight, I was seated at 10K, the right-hand-side window seat in the second-to-last row. Beautifully designed, the brown seat features an elegant and exotic peacock pattern. Well-padded, they are complemented by a pillow in a rich red. You’ll also notice curtains surrounding the last two seats. These are installed because these seats are used as a crewrest on longer flights.

Across the seat, you’ll find the 16-inch touchscreen entertainment screen, with Garuda’s STARS system (more on that later). Under that, you’ll find the tray table, which can be pulled out towards you, revealing a foldable table used as a sturdy surface for working and dining.

To the side, you’ll find the seat’s literature pocket and a personal reading lamp, in addition to the ones fitted overhead. The latter has three brightness settings, convenient for overnight flights.

The side table surface next to that opens, revealing the entertainment remote control and a shallow storage cabinet. The storage cabinet, which could only fit a phone or your passport, also houses the power outlet, an audio port, and two USB-A plugs.

Next to the armrest by the side table, you’ll find the intuitive touchscreen controls to adjust the recline of the seat. Meanwhile, the armrest on the opposite side can open, revealing another storage space used to house the headphones. This armrest can be extended as a secondary privacy barrier, although only inflight.

Finally, there’s additional storage under the spacious padded ottoman where you could keep your shoes. I’ll also add that overhead airvents are installed on Garuda’s A330-300s, which I always appreciate.

Economy Class

Economy Class is decidedly a less glamorous affair, with 263 seats featuring a standard 2-4-2 configuration. Installed are Collins Aerospace Pinnacle seats, with brand new, intuitive touch screen LED entertainment monitors and footrests. On a subsequent flight from Bali to Jakarta, I actually flew this exact aircraft in Economy Class. I’ve written a full review here, in case you want to check it out. 🙂

Departure from Singapore

After settling down in my seat, cabin crew Rika offered me a pre-departure beverage of either water, Martebe juice, or Champagne. I opted for the latter, which was served with a hot towel on a plate. For reference, Garuda Indonesia serves Champagne Henriot Brut Soverain NV in Business Class. As boarding went underway, Maître de Cabine Gita came by to greet passengers and note our meal preferences for the flight. While doing so, she even knelt down to be on the same level as the seated passengers. Am I on Qatar Airways??

As boarding continued, the exotic rhythms of Rasa Sayange and other contemporary takes on traditional Indonesian songs filled the cabin, at times interjected by automated safety announcements in Bahasa Indonesia and English. The calm atmosphere was later disrupted by an advert played on the monitors, a decidedly un-premium aspect of the flight! No matter, as I had myself focused out the window, looking at the China Eastern Airbus A320-200 being pushed back for its departure to Kunming.

Within 20 minutes of boarding, the aircraft doors were shut. While we waited for pushback clearance, she made her way down the aisle, personally greeting each Business Class passenger and taking note of our meal preferences for later in the flight. She even took the time to chat with everyone, only pausing when the safety video began to play. Honestly, this might just be the best service I’ve had on Garuda Indonesia in ages!

Pushback and takeoff

When it came to our turn to push back, another 17 minutes later, Gita came on the PA to welcome everyone on board in a calm and polite tone, on behalf of Captain Aditya Ramawijaya. Having noted our flight time of 1 hour and 36 minutes, she ended the announcements with an apologise for the delay.

We slowly taxied the whole length of Singapore Changi Airport, passing by the various jets parked at Terminal 3 and Terminal 4. Meanwhile, I was caught off guard, as the inflight entertainment system was reset throughout the cabin. Interestingly, the safety video started playing in Economy Class right after this. Hmmm…

We reached Runway 02C some 18 minutes later, lined parallel to an Indonesia AirAsia Airbus A320-200 also headed for Jakarta. With both the AirAsia jet and we inching closer to the runway, it felt as if we were in a race to Indonesia! The fate was determined, however, as we had prior clearance for takeoff, lifting off a mere minute later at 16.17. 😀

Once airborne, we banked towards the south, treating us to impressive views of the massive Changi Airport complex. It surely is crazy to think how Changi’s 25 square kilometre plot accounts for over three per cent of Singapore’s landmass.

Entertainment

Garuda Indonesia never really had a competitive inflight entertainment offering, and this flight was no different. The selection remains quite limited and lacklustre, with a total of 71 films loaded on the airline’s STARS Entertainment System. Two dozen of these were Hollywood movies, followed by Asian titles (mainly Indonesian). None were new. There was also a total of 106 television show episodes, eight of which are inflight safety-related.

Complementing the system are standard-issue noise-cancelling Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones. While the Airbus A330-300 is also equipped with inflight WiFi, the network was not activated, accounting for the short flight time. At the very least, the airline’s Colours inflight magazine and GarudaShop catalogue were present on this flight.

Refreshments service

The seatbelt signs were turned off six minutes after takeoff, prompting the crew to start preparing for the inflight service. As the meals had been preheated before takeoff, it didn’t take long before Gita showed up with the inflight meal.

On this flight, there were two choices of hot meals – Chicken Breast with Roasted Potatoes or Nasi Sapi Asam Padeh Sayur Urap (Asam padeh-stewed beef with rice and urap vegetables). Coincidentally, this was the exact same meal that I received flying between Singapore and Jakarta two years prior. I vividly remembered not liking the beef dish, so I went with the chicken this time.

The chicken was served with coleslaw and a mango cake on the side, along with a personal bread basket. While the sides were mediocre at best, I was surprised to find the chicken to be perfectly cooked and juicy. The warm, bi-coloured bread roll was also nice, especially paired with the chicken. To drink, I had Garuda Indonesia’s signature Martebe juice – a blend of passionfruit (markisa) and tamarillo (terong belanda). This was exceptional.

During the meal service, Gita regularly came down the aisle to offer drink top-ups and proactively clear any empty dishes. As she was doing so, she would ask how our meal was and whether we would like anything else – all while remembering to address each passenger by name. As her colleague Rika cleared the trays after the meal, she came back to offer each passenger a fleece blanket.

Lavatory

There are two lavatories reserved for Business Class passengers, located at the front and at the rear of the cabin. I visited both lavatories during boarding, after the meal, and before landing. During all those times, the well-maintained lavatories were exceptionally clean and pleasant.

As is always the case on Garuda Indonesia, there are a few amenities, including mouthwash, refreshing towels, body lotion, and an eau de toilette. The latter two are Garuda Indonesia-branded, which I find to be very interesting.

Bed mode

With time to spare before our arrival in Jakarta, I decided to check out the bed function of the seat. The seat is reclined with an intuitive touchscreen panel next to the armrest, which also controls the reading lamps. Fully reclined, the seat does have a very slight angle, which remains unnoticeable thanks to the angle at which the aircraft cruises. Interestingly, however, there was a noticeable gap between the two seat surfaces.

Thanks to the excellent padding on the seat and the wide and roomy footwell, I found the bed surface to be very comfortable. While the pillow and fleece blanket are nice enough, it certainly would be better if proper bedding were provided on long-haul flights. Regardless, I’d still be happy with this product were I to fly on a longer flight to Tokyo or Seoul, for instance.

Service

As you might have inferred from the above review, I was extremely impressed with the service on this flight. While both Gita and Rika, whom I interacted with, provided warm and personable service, Gita stood out in particular. She easily provided the most polished service I’ve ever encountered on a Garuda Indonesia flight. For instance, every time she interacted with each passenger at their seat, she’d kneel down so that she would be speaking on eye level. After the meal, she went through the cabin to check on each and every passenger and even stayed to chat about our trip to India, before sincerely thanking us for flying Garuda Indonesia.

Arrival in Jakarta

About 30 minutes before landing, Captain Ramawijaya came on the PA to announce our descent and the details of our arrival. The seatbelt signs were lit 15 minutes later, followed by an automated safety announcement, in English and Bahasa Indonesia, to prepare the cabin for landing. Sure enough, within the next 10 minutes, the coast became littered with bagan fishing platforms – an undeniable indicator that we have arrived in Jakarta.

We landed in Soekarno-Hatta International Airport at 16.37 local time, with a very smooth touchdown on Runway 24. Once we exited the runway, Garuda’s contemporary medley of traditional music once again filled the cabin, reminding me once more that we had arrived in Indonesia.

As we taxied to our gate in Terminal 3, Gita welcomed us to Jakarta on the PA, apologising for the delay and thanking us once again for flying Garuda Indonesia. Along the way, we passed by lines of Batik Air Airbus A320-200s, which I have reviewed in Business Class.

We arrived at our gate moments later, parking next to an ANA Boeing 787-9; this coincidentally hints at my next trip report. 😉 At the door, I ensured to thank Gita and Rika as I disembarked. Before I scurried to immigration, I caught one last glimpse of our beautiful aircraft, which had taken us home in our final flight of this journey.

Verdict

While I’ve liked Garuda Indonesia for a long time, I’ve never considered the airline to be extraordinary. This flight changed that perception. Although the inflight entertainment and food selection were mediocre, I was blown away by the level of service on this flight. For one, I’d willingly compare the standard of service to that Singapore Airlines First Class. Allow me to especially extend praise to Gita, who was phenomenal in every way. Combined with the comfortable seats, I would consider Garuda Indonesia Business Class to be a very pleasant way to fly. While I obviously don’t expect the service to be that good on all my future flights, it does

And like that, we’re finally with An Indian Subcontinent Extraordinaire. Thank you so much for reading Jakarta Potato.