Singapore Hot, Malaysia Not for Bandung
Last updated: April 15, 2013
Bandung Airport receives more flights to Singapore, fewer flights to Malaysia.
Silk Air recently became the latest airline – as well as the first full-service airline – to commence international flights between Singapore and Husein Sastranegara Airport in Bandung, West Java.
Silk Air joins Air Asia and Batavia Air offering international flights between Bandung and Singapore.
| Airline |  |
 |
 |
| Departs Bandung at: | 07:10, 14:00 | Tu, W, Th, Sa: 10:10 M, F, Su: 16:40 |
|
| Lands in Singapore* at: | 10:00, 16:40 | Tu, W, Th, Sa: 13:00 M, F, Su: 19:30 |
|
| Departs Singapore* at: | 10:30, 17:10 | Tu, W, Th, Sa: 08:35 M, F, Su: 14:55 |
|
| Lands in Bandung at: | 11:15, 18:00 | Tu, W, Th, Sa: 09:20 M, F, Su: 15:40 |
Days Of Operation: | Every day | Every day |
*Local time in Singapore is one hour ahead of Bandung
Silk Air is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore Airlines. It operates Airbus A319 and A320 planes to short-haul destinations in Asia, with meals in all classes but no in-flight entertainment. Singapore Airlines operates flights to Jakarta and Denpasar (Bali), while Silk Air flies to smaller cities: as well as Bandung, Medan (North Sumatra), Pekanbaru (Riau), Palembang (South Sumatra), Solo (Central Java), Surabaya (East Java), Mataram/Lombok (West Nusa Tenggara), Balikpapan (East Kalimantan) and Manado (North Sulawesi).
By contrast, Air Asia is a budget airline with extra fees for checked baggage, seat selection, meals, etc. Air Asia has established Bandung as a secondary hub. As well as flights to Singapore, Air Asia operates multiple daily flights between Bandung and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It also has useful domestic flights from Bandung to Denpasar (Bali) and Medan (North Sumatra). More generally, Air Asia flies from Kuala Lumpur and/or Singapore to Banda Aceh (Aceh), Padang (West Sumatra), Pekanbaru (Riau), Yogyakarta, Solo (Central Java), Makassar (South Sulawesi) and Balikpapan (East Kalimantan).
Batavia Air has stopped flying this route.
Batavia Air is somewhere in the middle, with a free 20kg checked baggage allowance and a small snack/drink provided to passengers. Occasionally, there are special deals – see right – with e.g. a 25kg baggage allowance. Batavia Air also flies to Singapore from Jakarta, Semarang (Central Java) and Pontianak (West Kalimantan).
Meanwhile, other airlines have found it more difficult to attract passengers from Malaysia to Bandung.
The full-service Malaysia Airlines recently ceased flights between Kuala Lumpur and Bandung, after 15 months of service.
Looking at the above advertisement, it is not hard to get an idea why. With a little local knowledge or just some basic research, Malaysia Airlines’ marketing department would have realised that Bandung is in West Java; Bromo-Tengger-Semeru National Park (in the picture) is in East Java, about 700km away. It is actually closer to other Malaysia Air destinations: Surabaya (East Java) and Denpasar (Bali). Such an advertisement was deceptive at best, and showed poor attention to detail.
Its budget subsidiary, Firefly, also recently stopped operating between Johor Bahru and Bandung (as well as Surabaya). Firefly’s service lasted only two months.
Firefly marketed Bandung and Surabaya in Malaysia as a cheap shopping destination, but – whether by necessity (e.g. no budget) or choice (e.g. no clue) – Firefly did not attempt to attract any Indonesian customers in the other direction. There was almost no advertising or promotion in Indonesian media.
This leaves Air Asia with a monopoly on the Bandung-Kuala Lumpur route.
If you would like to book a flight from Bandung to one of these cities:
Bandung Flight Map
Click twice for full size
Singapore
Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)
Jakarta
Denpasar (Bali)
Yogyakarta
Semarang (Central Java)
Surabaya (East Java)
Medan (North Sumatra)
please fill in an enquiry form here.
Please note that we cannot sell tickets from Singapore to Bandung; they can only be purchased online or in Singapore. Enquires about flights from Singapore to Bandung will not receive a response.
5 Comments on “Singapore Hot, Malaysia Not for Bandung”
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Sputjam says:
MAS and it’s subsidiary firefly are on their death knell.
They lost focus after the government sold the company to a wheeler dealer and looks like it cannot recover from the mayhem, despite several government bailouts and control.
Best if either qantas or Cathay pacific take over the airline and save it from further deterioration. -
ET says:
Sputjam
“MAS and it’s subsidiary firefly are on their death knell.”
Maybe they should revise their pricing policy. It’s been ages ago that I flew MAS because of the exorbitant price hikes for their tickets. When I pass other potential customers will probably do the same. I wonder what their seat occupancy is these days.
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Rob says: So Bromo’s not in Bandung? Oh no!
That’s a horrible mistake to make. I’m struggling to work out how anyone could make that mistake actually.
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madrotter says: Well, still plenty of tourists from Malaysia here in Bandung, I live a stones throw from kampung Daun, Bandung’s most popular restaurant up in Lembang and it’s still full seven night a week. Me and my wife have taken over a backpacker hotel close to the train station (the By Moritz) and we’re getting quiet a few of them too, so the more of them coming to Bandung the better :)
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Avoiding the tiresome trip from Cengkareng via Jakarta to Bandung would be fabulous (although nowadays with the Cipularang toll road it’s not as bad as it used to be). Silk Air would be great to fly directly into Bandung from Europe with a connecting flight in Changi but unfortunately from Europe Singapore Airlines always arrives early morning.
I hope this route will be a success and will motivate Silk Air to open a morning service as well.