Garuda returns nonstop Jakarta flights to Perth: no more Bali hop
By John Walton, February 6 2013
Garuda Indonesia is bringing daily nonstop flights back to the Perth-Jakarta route, with a handy evening departure from WA and a morning return from Indonesia's capital.
Perth travellers currently have to hop via Denpasar in Bali, so a direct five-hour flight will be a great improvement. The new flights start 28 June.
Flight GA725 will leave Perth at 1740, arriving in Jakarta at 2115. On the way home, flight GA724 will depart Jakarta at 1030 and reach Perth at 1550.
Business class on the Boeing 737-800 will be a recliner similar to Australian domestic business class — comfortable enough for the medium-range flight — with touch-screen on demand entertainment.
Economy passengers will find standard Boeing 737-800 seats, but will also have the on demand entertainment to distract them.
Bagus Y. Siregar, Garuda's VP Australia/South West Pacific, says his airline is targeting business travellers with the new flights.
"We’ve launched this service to respond to the growing demand, particularly from the business community. With the new non-stop flights Jakarta is just under 5 hours away, which makes it very convenient for our corporate travellers," explains Bagus.
WA travellers looking to head to London will want to keep an eye out for whether the service connects to Garuda's newly announced Jakarta-London flights.
Keep up to date with the very latest news and information for business travellers: follow @AusBT on Twitter.
Aviation journalist and travel columnist John took his first long-haul flight when he was eight weeks old and hasn't looked back since. Well, except when facing rearwards in business class.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
24 Aug 2011
Total posts 785
"Business class on the Boeing 737-800 will be a recliner similar to Australian domestic first class" :) Can someone refresh my memory - I haven't seen domestic first class since 1992 on an Australian/TAA 727.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
10 Apr 2012
Total posts 317
I beleive he means "Domestic Business Class". In the U.S, they call their Business Class, "First Class".
03 Jan 2011
Total posts 665
Quite right. This came in just as I was finishing up a piece delving into US domestic first classes in some depth, so fingers were running before brain! Now fixed — thanks!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
26 Aug 2012
Total posts 9
*correction
Garuda Indonesia is beginning service from 01JUL13
03 Jan 2011
Total posts 665
Nope, Garuda confirms to me they start 28 June.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
26 Aug 2012
Total posts 9
Thank you for the update!
28 Oct 2011
Total posts 650
interesting that the recliner business of Garuda 737 (similar to Australian domestic business) is 'comfortable enough' for the 5hr PER-CGK...but is scoffed at by business passengers on a 5hr SYD-PER flight.. i think australian business travelers are a bunch of princesess..we dont realize how good we have it in OZ
03 Jan 2011
Total posts 665
Well, these are day flights, for which a recliner is just fine. On a red-eye, I think travellers are right to seek something more comfortable out.
I won't disagree with you that Australian business travellers have it pretty good, though!
01 Dec 2012
Total posts 53
Great news, but the quoted timings don't seem to be correct. Jakarta is closer to Perth than Sydney is. The gate to gate time should be around 3hrs 45 mins but Jetstar has 4hr 5 mins in its 'relaxed' schedule, and allowing for the one hour time difference, the PER-CGK flight should arrive at about 2045. Could you check?
The Garuda J class recliner is the best seat that I have experienced on a 737-800, with considerably greater legroom than on Australian domestic services and more recline.
03 Jan 2011
Total posts 665
Those are the timings we got from Garuda. I wouldn't be surprised if they block extra time for this flight, given that they're not an LCC, that weather in the region can be a bit bunk and Jakarta can be a bit congested. (I'd hypothesise that this wouldn't be the first flight of the day for this jet either, since it leaves CGK at 1030, so they may be allowing for it to be a bit behind.)
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