Is this your first time visiting Indonesia? Want to book an Indonesian domestic flight from A to B but don’t know which to choose? This guide is made for you.
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Checked
baggage
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Permitted
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in EU
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Food and
drinks
available
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Online
check-in and seat
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You can also click on the airline links below to find out more and make an informed choice.
Or you can find out our most popular airlines, destinations and routes by clicking on the banner below.
Airlines
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- Often voted one of the world’s best low cost airlines, and permitted to fly in EU airspace.
- Has many flights between Jakarta and Bali, and some other routes that other airlines don’t offer, e.g. Bandung to Medan, Denpasar to Bandung, Surabaya to Medan, Banda Aceh to Kuala Lumpur.
- Unlike most airlines, has its international and domestic flights in the same terminal: low-cost carrier Terminal 3.
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- Have to pay extra for check-in baggage, seat selection, on international flights fuel surcharge, etc.
- Departure times are often quite early or late, often with only one or two flights per day.
- Flies from the low-cost Terminal 3 in Jakarta, so you have to walk on the tarmac and climb stairs up to the plane. This is not so nice when it is wet or very hot.
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| Advantages |
Disadvantages |
- A large network of destinations, with departure times often designed to be suitable for business travellers on a budget.
- Has some useful flights to smaller airports in e.g. Sulawesi and Flores, plus to Singapore from some smaller cities e.g. Bandung, Semarang, Pontianak.
- Now permitted to fly in EU airspace.
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- With this large network, flights to some places can be relatively infrequent.
- Its on-time performance was recently found to be below expectations.
- Some flights e.g. Jakarta to Makassar have stops on the way, when other airlines are non-stop.
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| Advantages |
Disadvantages |
- Aims to be cheaper than its competitors, and often is.
- Low cost, yet still has free 20kg baggage allowance.
- The budget wing of Garuda, shares its benefits: good maintenance/facilities and permitted to fly in EU-airspace
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- Fewer flights and destinations due to a smaller number/fleet of planes.
- Some planes in their fleet are relatively old.
- No free in-flight snack/drink any more.
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| Advantages |
Disadvantages |
- The only full-service airline with free in-flight entertainment, meals and frequent flyer points.
- In Jakarta, departs from Terminal 2, next door to international departures/arrivals.
- Its domestic flights have the best punctuality/on-time performance.
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- Often more expensive than its competitors.
- The amount of food in economy class has decreased from meal-size to snack-size on shorter flights (e.g. Jakarta to Surabaya).
- At Jakarta Airport, Garuda planes often require passengers to travel by bus between the plane and the departure gate. It is probably because the airline has outgrown its allotted number of gates. While it shows that Garuda is growing, it is not so nice for the passengers.
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| Advantages |
Disadvantages |
- Indonesia’s #1 domestic airline in terms of passenger numbers since 2008, overtaking Garuda. The biggest network of destinations, and the most frequent flights.
- Often low prices.
- Most flights are in new Boeing 737-900ER planes.
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- The only airline with no food or drink in economy class, either for free or for sale.
- Recently found to be the Indonesian airline with the lowest on-time performance.
- Their new Boeing 737-900ER planes are a bit squeezy in the legroom department.
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Wings Air has the same features as Lion Air, except that the free checked baggage allowance is 15kg, not 20kg. See here for more details.
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| Advantages |
Disadvantages |
- Its primary purpose is to fly routes and to smaller cities that other airlines don’t. Therefore, it flies almost everywhere and offers direct flights that other airlines don’t, e.g. Yogyakarta to Makassar.
- In Jakarta, its flights depart from Terminal 2, next door to international departures/arrivals.
- Flies more frequently than its competitors to Labuan Bajo, Sorong and Dili
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- Its planes can be relatively old relative to its competitors.
- Has earned a reputation for late departures and cancelled flights in more remote locations.
- Sometimes has to receive a government bailout to cover its loss-making operations.
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| Advantages |
Disadvantages |
- Can be cheaper than other airlines; its sale/promo fares are more often still available because it doesn’t advertise them as much.
- Has some useful/rare flights to smaller cities like Gorontalo, Palu, Lampung.
- Has possibly some of the world’s cheapest (or just most reasonably priced) in-flight shopping/souvenirs.
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- Its planes can be relatively old compared to its competitors.
- Being a slightly smaller airline, its departures are relatively infrequent.
- Most flights are to/from Jakarta, with few others.
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Other airlines
Upon request, we can also provide quotes for the following airlines:
Unlike TransNusa and Trigana, Express Air and Kal-Star do NOT offer online booking and e-ticketing. Therefore their bookings takes longer to process and require the paper tickets to be posted/couriered to the client, usually at their Indonesian hotel.
Chris just recently organized a flight from Batam to Padang for us. Within two days everything was settled... 
Chris at Mau Ke Mana really helped me out when I found it nearly impossible to buy an air ticket online. 
Thank you so much! You saved our holiday!
We can really recommend Chris and his team. They work fast and reliable. 
