Flying Monkeys

Last updated: August 17, 2015

The ultimate guide to flying to Pangkalan Bun, home of the orangutan.

The best place in Indonesia to see orangutans in their natural habitat is undoubtedly Tanjung Puting National Park, in Central Kalimantan. In recent times it has grown in popularity with foreign tourists, and airlines have responded with increased flight options and frequencies to the nearest city/airport: Pangkalan Bun.

To whet your appetite, here is a recent video story about visiting Tanjung Puting NP from BBC World News’ travel show, Fast Track. It describes how tourism gives local people work, which helps to protect the area from illegal logging and mining activities.

Click the desired city below for more information about flights between Pangkalan Bun and:

Jakarta | Surabaya | Semarang | Solo | Pontianak | Banjarmasin
Denpasar, Bali | Makassar / Ujung Pandang | Singapore

Click on image for full-size

Jakarta

This is the most common route for tourists flying to Pangkalan Bun.

Jakarta (CGK) to Pangkalan Bun (PKN)

Airline	Flight Number	Departs CGK	Arrives PKN	Days
	IL708	09:15	10:20	Daily
	KD720	14:45	16:00	Daily

Trigana Air’s flight to Pangkalan Bun seems more suitable for those starting their boat (klotok) tour the same day, while Kal-Star flight is better for those who prefer to start their boat tour the following day. (All visitors need to visit the local police station and park ranger’s office before commencing their tour; the police station closes at 2pm).

Pangkalan Bun (PKN) to Jakarta (CGK)

Airline	Flight Number	Departs PKN	Arrives CGK	Days
	IL709	07:35	08:40	Daily
	KD721	12:50	14:05	Daily

Want to book flights on this route? Please click here to send an enquiry.

Surabaya

Trigana Air’s flights to/from Pangkalan Bun seems more suitable for those wishing to maximise their time in Pangkalan Ban, while Kal-Star flights are better for those who prefer a more relaxed departure.

Surabaya (SUB) to Pangkalan Bun (PKN)

Airline	Flight Number	Departs SUB	Arrives PKN	Days
	IL711	06:10	07:10	Daily
	KD651	11:25	12:25	Daily

Pangkalan Bun (PKN) to Surabaya (SUB)

Airline	Flight Number	Departs PKN	Arrives SUB	Days
	IL712	14:00	15:25	Daily
	KD650	09:55	10:55	Daily

Want to book flights on this route? Please click here to send an enquiry.

Semarang

Semarang is the closest Javanese city to Pangkalan Bun, so has the shortest and cheapest flights.

Semarang (SRG) to Pangkalan Bun (PKN)

Airline	Flight Number	Departs SRG	Arrives PKN	Days
	IL702	12:30	13:25	Daily
	KD603	08:30	09:30	Daily

Pangkalan Bun (PKN) to Semarang (SRG)

Airline	Flight Number	Departs PKN	Arrives SRG	Days
	IL701	11:00	12:00	Daily
	KD602	07:00	08:00	Daily

Want to book flights on this route? Please click here to send an enquiry.

Solo

Solo Airport is only about 70km from Yogyakarta. Unfortunately, flights on this route are frequently cancelled, due to low passenger numbers. If you are coming from Yogyakarta, we recommend travelling via Jakarta or Surabaya.

Solo (SOC) to Pangkalan Bun (PKN)

Airline	Flight Number	Departs SOC	Arrives PKN	Days
	IL742	12:00	13:25	Wednesday, Sunday

Pangkalan Bun (PKN) to Solo (SOC)

Airline	Flight Number	Departs PKN	Arrives SOC	Days
	IL741	10:05	11:30	Wednesday, Sunday

Want to book flights on this route? Please click here to send an enquiry.

Pontianak

Visitors could use this flight as a “highights of Kalimantan” tour seeing the Equator Monument in Pontianak, the orangutans in Pangkalan Bun and later the floating markets of Banjarmasin and the picture-perfect beaches of Pulau Derawan. If your previous/next destination is Kuching (Malaysia), you will need to spend one night at a hotel in Pontianak.

Both airlines’ flights stop in Ketapang, West Kalimantan.

Pontianak (PNK) to Pangkalan Bun (PKN)

Airline	Flight Number	Departs PNK	Arrives PKN	Days
	KD922	07:00	08:25	Daily
	IL127	08:15	09:40	Daily

Pangkalan Bun (PKN) to Pontianak (PNK)

Airline	Flight Number	Departs PKN	Arrives PNK	Days
	KD923	13:35	14:59	Daily
	IL126	13:55	15:20	Daily

Want to book flights on this route? Please click here to send an enquiry.

Banjarmasin

Banjarmasin is arguably the easiest city in Kalimantan for flying to Pangkalan Bun.

Some flights stop in Sampit, Central Kalimantan. Please note that local time in Banjarmasin is one hour ahead of Pangkalan Bun.

Banjarmasin (BDJ) to Pangkalan Bun (PKN)

Airline	Flight Number	Departs BDJ	Arrives PKN	Days
	KD923	12:50	13:12	Daily

Pangkalan Bun (PKN) to Banjarmasin (BDJ)

Airline	Flight Number	Departs PKN	Arrives BDJ	Days
	KD922	08:45	11:03	Daily

Want to book flights on this route? Please click here to send an enquiry.

Denpasar, Bali

There are no direct flights from Denpasar, but it is possible to fly to either Surabaya or Jakarta, and get a connecting flight. It would usually be easiest and cheapest to fly via Surabaya. Having said that, if you have not much time and don’t mind an early start, it would be better to fly via Jakarta.

Makassar / Ujung Pandang, South Sulawesi

There are no direct flights from Makassar/Ujung Pandang, but it is possible to fly to Surabaya or Jakarta and get a connecting flight.

Singapore

There are no direct flights from Singapore, but it is possible to fly to either Jakarta, or Semarang, and get a connecting flight. It would usually be easiest and cheapest to fly via Jakarta.

19 Comments on “Flying Monkeys”

1. Mas Martin says:

   November 21, 2011 at 5:17 pm

   I would say that suggesting Pontianak is a base for visiting Tanjung Puting AND Banjarmasin AND Pulau Derawan is a bit “overstretched”. While it is true that KALStar and Trigana may link Pontianak and Berau with 3 stopovers, this “milk run” (or circumnavigation of Kalimantan) it is probably also quite expensive.
   Are there any DIRECT connections between Pontianak and Balikpapan? I doubt it… For visiting Derawan, it seems to me it may be better/faster/cheaper to go via Java and Tarakan… Or, if I am mistaken, would you please list a link between BDJ, BPN and Berau? Is it a daily flight?

2. Chris says:

   November 22, 2011 at 10:47 am

   Dear Mas Martin,

   Thanks for your feedback.

   Just to clarify, if people want to see:

   – the Equator Monument in Pontianak
   – Tanjung Puting National Park, near Pangkalan Bun
   – the floating markets of Banjarmasin
   – Pulau Derawan, near Berau

   the Trigana Air flight would be a suitable way to do it. As roads are few and generally in poor condition, it would certainly be faster and comfortable than taking a bus. Please note also that there is no road between Pontianak and Ketapang/Pangkalan Bun.

   Are there any DIRECT connections between Pontianak and Balikpapan?

   No, there are no direct flights between Pontianak and Balikpapan; flying via Jakarta/Yogyakarta/Surabaya is slower than the Trigana Air flight.

   would you please list a link between BDJ, BPN and Berau? Is it a daily flight?

   Trigana Air TGN763
   Departs BDJ: 15:50
   Arrives BPN: 16:30
   Arrives BEJ: 17:40

   Yes, it is a daily flight.

3. Chris says:

   December 1, 2011 at 11:22 am

   We have had a couple of clients recently confuse PANGKALAN BUN with PALANGKA RAYA.

   Both are in Central Kalimantan, but there the similarity ends.

   If you want to go to the capital city of Central Kalimantan, go to Palangka Raya. Many airlines fly there.

   If you want to see orangutans in Tanjung Puting National Park, go to Pangkalan Bun. Only Trigana Air and Kal-Star fly there currently.

   There are no flights between PR and PB. The two cities are 560km apart by road, an uncomfortable 14-hour bus trip.

   In the map below, Pangkalan Bun is in the South-West, while Palangka Raya is in the South-East:
   

4. Judith Whittle says:

   January 31, 2012 at 1:01 pm

   Chris you are a gem,
   IWe have been looking into this and finding your info was just such a treat. Will let you know when we are ready to book.
   Kind regards
   Judith & Paul Whittle

5. Chris says:

   December 2, 2013 at 7:10 am

   Sriwijaya Air may be about to commence flights between Pangkalan Bun and the following cities: Semarang, Surabaya

   Source

6. mark says:

   December 2, 2013 at 10:58 am

   Hi,
   I am taking a group of students to Indonesia next April.
   I was thinking of taking them to Pangkalan Bun, and looking at the orangutans,
   but am worried about the safety of the airlines flying there.
   Should i be?

7. Chris says:

   December 2, 2013 at 1:39 pm

   Hi Mark,

   The short answer is no. As you can see on our Flight Memory page, our clients fly to Pangkalan Bun all the time. PB is currently #8 on our list of most popular destinations, and Jakarta to PB is #7 on our list of most popular routes. Our clients have the opportunity to tell us later if they were unsettled/concerned by their experience, but so far none have about Trigana Air or Kal-Star.

   We discuss why not in more detail here: Indonesian Airline Safety Ratings

8. Janene says:

   December 6, 2013 at 1:10 pm

   Hi Chris, My husband and I did this tour 1 night 2 days in May with our niece and nephew from Jakarta. We had a fabulous guide named Chris (is this you). we got picked up from airport and had an amazing weekend on the river, we went up and it was brown and then it became black. I was wondering if recommended to friends can you request same guide? Also I cant find this tour anywhere on tripadvisor and it certainly should be so others can read about it. My niece Nicole organized it all from Jakarta otherwise I don’t know how people would find about it because its not listed on Borneo tour sites well not that I can find. I still have her email which gets me to your site.
   Anyway just wondering if the same guide Chris is still doing tours.
   Thanks Janene

9. Chris says:

   December 6, 2013 at 3:46 pm

   Hi Janene,

   Sorry to say, I am not that Chris, nor do I know any Chris in Pangkalan Bun.

10. Pavel Nankov says:

    December 8, 2013 at 9:13 am

    Hi Chris,

    We are planning a trip to Tanjung Puting in the beginning of January, but should we be concerned with possible cancellation of the early Trigana flight PKN / Jakarta, since we have an international flight in the evening on the same day? We have a lot of hours for connection in Jakarta (close to 12) between the 2 flights, so a big delay will not be that much of a problem, but a cancellation will be deffinately more problematic.

    Thank you very much, I will appreciate any information you might have on this.

    Kind regards,
    Pavel

11. Chris says:

    December 8, 2013 at 10:49 am

    Hi Pavel,

    Trigana Air are usually fairly reliable, except at low season when flights get cancelled so the planes can be serviced. Early January is not low season.

    Even if there is a last minute cancellation, Trigana Air passengers can be “rescheduled” to the Kal-Star flight on the same day. This has happened once in the past.

12. Scarlet says:

    December 27, 2013 at 10:00 am

    I am interested I the tour Jeanine mentioned. How do we go about booking in January? Thanks for your help

13. Chris says:

    December 27, 2013 at 5:40 pm

    Hi Scarlet,

    Sorry, we can’t help you with the exact tour mentioned by Janene.

    However, we can help you with this similar tour.

14. Janene says:

    December 28, 2013 at 1:41 pm

    Email me privately peckie@optusnet.com.au or try this link http://www.borneotour.org/#%21
    Best ever 2 days 1 night
    Simply amazing!
    Janene

15. Chris says:

    August 17, 2015 at 2:19 pm

    For the record, Trigana Air flights between Jakarta/Semarang/Surabaya and Pangkalan Bun use a Boeing 737 plane, not an ATR42-300 plane, the model in the recent accident in West Papua. More information

16. Erik Lundberg says:

    November 13, 2015 at 11:50 pm

    Flights from/to Manado (MDC) to/from Pangkalan Bun?

17. Chris says:

    November 14, 2015 at 2:44 pm

    Hi Erik,

    There are no direct flights from Manado to Pangkalan Bun; you will need to transit Jakarta or Surabaya. Via Jakarta will probably by easier because there are more flights between Jakarta and Manado, so you SHOULD be able to do the entire journey in one day.

    We recommend 2+ hours between non-connecting domestic flights (1. Pangkalan Bun to Jakarta, 2. Jakarta to Pangkalan Bun) to give you time to collect and recheck luggage, etc.

18. Laur says:

    November 17, 2015 at 10:32 pm

    Hi, i need to know how can I get to Pangkalan Bun from Yakarta or from Bali, if it would be possible, because I can’t find anywhere information about the flights. The dates would be the third week Jun 2016. Thank you!

19. Chris says:

    November 19, 2015 at 3:25 pm

    Hi Laur,

    Tickets can only be purchased up to 3 months before departure, i.e. I would try in early April to buy tickets for June 2016. For now, the schedule is above.