The flight was short, but I enjoyed flying on Garuda Indonesia’s most premium Airbus A330 business class product.
Garuda Indonesia A330 Business Class – My First Impressions
Garuda has a fleet of widebody A330 and 777 jets. Those aircraft have three different business class seats. All are lie-flat, but only a handful of its A330-300s have Collins Aerospace Super Diamond seats in business class, which offer more privacy and comfort than the other products.
In fact, I extended my layover in Bali by three hours in order to fly this jet to Jakarta instead of an A330 with the other B/E Minipod seats (which are 2-2-2 instead of 1-2-1).
Onboard, I found my window seat and settled in…it has been years since I’ve flown in Garuda Indonesia in a premium cabin.
Almost immediately, a flight attendant welcomed me onboard with a choice of beverage and some snacks (nuts and chips).
We took off and were soon in the air. At only 611 miles, it was a very quick flight and meals were served right after takeoff. A choice between chicken with rice or beef with noodles was offered and I chose chicken. I’m not sure what it was because it was never described to me, and there was no menu, but I enjoyed it (minus the egg).
Coffee and tea were offered after lunch, but by that time, I was fully caffeinated for the day and just had water.
I placed the seat in lie-flat mode and found it comfortable…I would not mind flying this aircraft on a longer flight. Even though this was just a short domestic flight, blankets and pillows were offered, but these were more economy-class style, so I would hope Garuda Indonesia has better bedding on its longer flights.
There was no Wi-Fi onboard and the onboard in-flight entertainment selection was very weak, an area Garuda has lagged in for years.
We landed on time in Jakarta, but we ended up taxiing for about 40 minutes…goodness, it seemed so inefficient. Because this was a widebody jet, we pulled into the international arrivals area, but then were let off into a particular corridor for domestic arrivals.
Soon, I was on my way out and to the curb, where I took a Grab (no Uber in Indonesia) to the Park Hyatt Jakarta.
I’ll have more to say about the seat, IFE, service, food, and amenities in my full review.
I’m sharing about my whirlwind trip through Asia.
Looks like you got a nice decent peoduct overall for such a short flight.
I fly in and out of Jakarta airport every 1-2 weeks, almost every flight the taxi is between 20 and 40 minutes… for a domestic flight it can be half the time of the flight! Haha