A pictorial journey through Garuda Explore.

Garuda Explore is a new regional subsidiary of Indonesia’s biggest full-service airline, Garuda Indonesia.

Like Wings Air, Garuda Explore uses brand new Aerospatiale ATR72 turboprop/propellor aircraft to fly to smaller cities with shorter runways. Seating 70, these planes are a little smaller than the Garuda fleet’s other recent addition – the Bombardier CRJ1000 NextGen – which seats 96.

For visitors to Indonesia, the most useful new routes are flights from Bali to the following destinations:

• * Bima (Sumbawa) – good for surfers wanting to visit the world-famous Lakey Beach
• * Labuan Bajo (Flores) – nearest airport to New 7 Wonder Komodo National Park
• * Semarang (Central Java) – nearest airport to the deserted beaches of Karimunjawa

The new flights also maintain other Garuda Indonesia standards:

However, in-flight entertainment and business class are not available. Seat pitch is a little less than other Garuda planes, at 30″ (75cm).

@maukemanaflight pada jenis pesawat ATR, ukuran papan selancar maximal 160 cm dan berat kurang dari 23 kg. Tks.

— Garuda Indonesia (@IndonesiaGaruda) December 20, 2013

One potential disadvantage: with the smaller cargo hold, surfboards must be shorter than 1.6 metres. On most other regional airlines, it is 1.8 metres.

@maukemanaflight please wait for further information. Tks.

— Garuda Indonesia (@IndonesiaGaruda) November 11, 2013

Garuda Indonesia is also non-committal (or just unsure) whether sports equipment flies for free like on other Garuda planes. Other airlines charge either a flat fee of up to Rp200 000 ($US20) per board, or a rate of Rp10 000 ($US1) per kg.

Jumping for Joy: Ronda Traditional Dance in Labuan Bajo
Note: man in middle holding a model Garuda aircraft

Local governments in these regions are very happy with Garuda Explore’s new flights. They hope that a more reliable and punctual airline like Garuda will provide a more positive experience for visitors and residents alike, and encourage more travel to/in the region.

Future destinations are also reported to include Jacques Cousteau’s favourite dive site: Wakatobi.

Would you like to visit a more remote part of Indonesia? Do you also value an airline with high ratings for safety and on-time performance? Please fill in an enquiry and select Garuda Indonesia as your preferred airline.