Business trip from Singapore to Jakarta

Last week I traveled to Jakarta from Singapore for a business meeting. It was less than a day travel and I only stayed one night. I have flied there by AirAsia and came back by Jetstar. This was the first time I have been in Jakarta since 2009.

AirAsia operates 6x daily flights from Singapore to Jakarta. The 1 hour 45 minutes flight was smooth and ended up in a terminal which seems to belong to AirAsia. Last time I have been to Jakarta I had to take visa from Indonesia Embassy in Singapore. This time it was a very easy on-arrival visa which took less than a minute to queue and take and cost 35 SGD (25 USD). But i think the queues in immigration were short because this was a terminal solely serving AirAsia in Jakarta.

This was also my first time in Jakarta without a colleague. I did not have time to check the address of hotel, how to get there, which taxi to take. Before leaving the terminal I asked the information counter about the cost of taxi from Jakarta Airport to Le Meridien Jakarta hotel. They told me that it should cost 125,000 Rupiah. When I went out of terminal I have directly walked to bus platform and avoided all those smiling faces trying to direct me to an expensive taxi ride. Indonesia is famous for scams so it is best to avoid anyone trying to direct you to a vehicle.

I was watching the taxis and trying to decide which to take when I have seen a Blue Bird taxi. I have heard about this company in Bali and knew that it is advised to take taxis belonging to Blue Bird to avoid overpaying. I have waited an available one and jumped into a Blue Bird.

You need to pay for all high-way tolls on your way to central Jakarta by cash and taxi driver either pays them on his own and takes the total from you later or requests them one by one from you. Mine has requested them one by one.

I was preparing myself to a very heavy traffic but there was not traffic on my way to hotel. I think this is because I have arrived on Friday night and the heavy traffic was from Jakarta center to outside. On the other hand my boss, who arrived early Thursday needed 2.5 hours to arrive from airport to the hotel. Taxi ride from Jakarta Airport to my hotel, Le Meridien Jakarta cost me 105,000 Rupiah without highway tools. So Blue Bird was a good choice.

Le Meridien Jakarta Hotel is a central hotel which was quite near to our meeting location in Jakarta. It was my first time in this hotel and I enjoyed the stay. The room, the bed and the bathroom was quite large and with a price tag of 100 USD per night it was reasonably priced. The dinner was not included in my booking so I (or my company) paid 40 USD for an open buffet dinner which was quite nice. I also enjoyed the breakfast but having arrived late with some work to do, I had no chance to try facilities such as swimming pool and gym.

I would definitely recommend Le Meridien Jakarta Hotel but the most important criteria in Jakarta to choose a hotel is the location. Given the horrific traffic in the city which has no meaningful public transformation, you should choose a hotel near your most visited destination.

This is the second time I stay in a hotel operated by Starwoods hotels in the last 3 months (previously I have stayed in ALoft Bangkok Hotel Sukhumvit 11) and I have enjoyed both of the hotels.

From Jakarta to Singapore, I flew with Jetstar. I both like AirAsia and Jetstar. The food on the plane is reasonably priced and for an almost 2 hours flight, I am quite OK with a budget airline even for business trip.

While flying in and out Singapore, I have realized that there are many tropical islands in Riau Islands below Batam and Bintan to visit.

Flights to Yogyakarta from Singapore by SilkAir

SilkAir, the regional wing of Singapore Airlines, will start direct flights from Singapore and Yogyakarta Indonesia, from 25 November 2013, increasing its Indonesian network to 12 destinations. Subject to regulatory approvals, the flights will operate three times weekly on Monday, Friday and Sunday. The new services will be operated with Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft, featuring both Business and Economy Class cabins.

Renowned as a centre of classical Javanese fine art and culture such as batik, ballet, drama, music, poetry, and puppet shows, Yogyakarta is close to the world famous Borobudur and Prambanan temples and offers a variety of natural attractions and sightseeing opportunities within and beyond the city. Because of its proximity to world famous Borobudur and Prambanan temples, also because having unique Javanese court Kraton culture of Kraton Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta has become the second most important tourist destination in Indonesia after Bali.

The announcement came just 1 month after Silkair has introduced its flights to to Semarang and Makassar on 29 July and 1 August respectively. SilkAir first began operations to Indonesia in August 1992 and has steadily strengthened its network over the years. SilkAir currently serves 11 Indonesian destinations, namely Balikpapan, Bandung, Lombok, Manado, Makassar, Medan, Palembang, Pekanbaru, Semarang, Solo and Surabaya.

With the new destination launch, SilkAir’s frequencies to Indonesia will increase to 70 flights weekly.

Yogyakarta has become the second most important tourist destination in Indonesia after Bali thanks to its
proximity to Borobudur and Prambanan and having unique Javanese court
Kraton culture of Kraton Yogyakarta

The new Yogyakarta services are connected via Singapore with the rest of the more than 90 international cities in the joint Singapore Airlines – SilkAir network.

SilkAir currently operates more than 300 weekly flights to 44 destinations in 12 countries. Recent additions to the network include Hanoi (June 2012), Visakhapatnam (October 2012), Semarang (July 2013) and Makassar (August 2013). The airline currently has a fleet of 23 Airbus aircraft, comprising 6 A319s and 17 A320s. In August 2012, the airline announced the largest order in its history of up to 68 Boeing 737 aircraft, with firm orders comprising 23 Boeing 737-800s and 31 Boeing 737 MAX 8s.

Flights to Makassar from Singapore by SilkAir

SilkAir, the regional wing of Singapore Airlines, today launched its first flight to Makassar, the provincial capital of South Sulawesi.

Makassar is SilkAir’s eleventh destination in Indonesia, increasing the number of destinations in SilkAir’s route network to 44 in 12 countries. SilkAir currently serves ten other Indonesian destinations, namely Balikpapan, Bandung, Lombok, anado,Medan, Palembang, Pekanbaru, Semarang, Solo and Surabaya.

The inaugural flight MI 142 departed Singapore Changi Airport at 0805 hours and is scheduled to arrive in Makassar at 1115 hours. The return flight, MI 141, will take off at 1245 hours and is expected to reach Singapore at 1540 hours (all times local).

SilkAir will operate three times a week, departing Singapore on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The services will be operated with Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft, both featuring Business and Economy Class cabins.

To mark this special occasion, passengers on the first flight out of Singapore will be presented with exclusive SilkAir notebooks and inaugural flight certificates personally signed by Chief Executive SilkAir, Mr. Leslie Thng, and the flight commander. Likewise, SilkAir notebooks and the flight certificates will also be presented to passengers on the first flight from Makassar.

“We are delighted to be adding Makassar to our network and to further strengthen our foothold in this part of the region. In addition to growing our network, we remain committed in offering a pleasant and comprehensive travel experience to our business and leisure travellers on the Singapore-Makassar route,” said SilkAir’s Chief Executive, Mr. Leslie Thng.

SilkAir had earlier launched to another point in Indonesia, Semarang on Monday, 29 July 2013. With the two new destination launches, SilkAir’s frequencies to Indonesia will increase to 64 flights weekly.

Detailed flight schedules to Makassar are as follows:

Flight Number	Day of Operation	Departure*	Arrival*
MI142	Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday	SIN 0805hrs	UPG 1115hrs
MI141	Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday	UPG 1205hrs	SIN 1500hrs

*All times local

Flights from Singapore to Surabaya by Garuda Indonesia

From 19 July 2013 Garuda Indonesia will start flights from Surabaya to Singapore, Garuda’s busiest destination outside of Indonesia. With the addition of this new four times weekly service, the airline will operate over 80 weekly flights from Singapore to five Indonesian destinations: Bali, Jakarta, Makassar, Balikpapan and Surabaya.

To celebrate the launch of the new Singapore - Surabaya flights, Garuda Indonesia is now running a sale valid until 8 August 2013 for travel from 19 July to 9 August 2013. The return flights in economy class are on sale from S$265 with terms and conditions apply.

Surabaya  is Indonesia's second-largest city with a population of over 3.1 million (7-9 million in the metropolitan area), and the capital of the province of East Java. Other than Garuda Indonesia, budget carrier Jetstar and Singapore Airline's regional arm SilkAir operates non-stop flights from Singapore to Surabaya.

Flights from Singapore to Bali are also expanding with a new four times weekly service from 19 July and introduce the addition of a ninth daily flight between Singapore and Jakarta starting 18 August.

"Southeast Asia is an important region and Singapore in particular is a key growth market for Garuda Indonesia. We are constantly looking to improve our flight offerings to provide Singapore travellers better connectivity into Indonesia,” said Nicodemus Lampe, Vice President, Area Asia, Garuda Indonesia. “With these new services, we aim to increase our passenger appeal and are confident that we will be able to capture a larger share of the market, in line with Garuda Indonesia’s ‘Quantum Leap’ strategy of becoming one the most profitable airlines in Asia.”

The new route and developments will be supported by a fleet of Boeing 737-800 Next Generation aircraft featuring upgraded on-board services such as individual touch-screen LCD TVs throughout Executive and Economy Classes with Video on Demand entertainment systems.

Flights from Singapore to Makassar Indonesia by AirAsia

Malaysia based AirAsia flies to many destinations from Singapore. And by 1 July 2013 it will add one more destination: AirAsia will start budget flights from Singapore to Makassar, the provincial capital of South Sulawesi, Indonesia, and the largest city on Sulawesi Island. AirAsia will operate brand new Airbus A 320s on Singapore - Makassar route four times weekly.

With the addition of these flights from Singapore to Makassar, AirAsia now flies direct to six Indonesian cities in total, including Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Bali and Semarang. The flights will also bring the number of direct flights from Singapore to the region to 15.

Makassar is located at the east of Indonesia and offers exotic marine tourism and a wide range of affordable seafood. Makassar  has the first indoor theme park in South East Asia named Trans Studio. There are several attractions and activities the city offers to tourists such as Losari Beach (long stretch of waterfront in the middle of the city), Fort Rotterdam (an old fortress from Dutch colonial days), Pulau Khayangan (a small island about 20 minutes away by boat from central Makassar) and Pulau Samalona (a beautiful white sandy island with good diving).

The capital city of South Sulawesi is also a dominant trading center for Eastern Indonesia and frequented mostly by business travellers.

As usual, new flights comes with promotion: AirAsia is offering promotional fares from as low as S$65 direct from Singapore to Makassar – one way. The discounted fares are available for booking until 16 June 2013, for travel between 1 July 2013 to 15 August 2013. Terms and conditions apply.

Flights from Hong Kong to Jakarta by Tiger Airways

 From 25 July 2013, Tiger Airways will introduce direct budget flights from Hong Kong to Jakarta four times weekly on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Tiger Airways plans to increase the frequency of Hong Kong - Jakarta flights to daily by September 2013. "We are excited that Tiger Airways is the first low cost carrier flying direct from Hong Kong to Jakarta, one of Asia's fastest growing economies. Our new service aims to offer best value in travel to both business travellers and Indonesian workers in Hong Kong. The competitive pricing, frequent schedule and value-added services on demand makes Tiger Airways' flight offerings unique and certainly more cost effective" said Kaneswaran Avili, Commercial Director, Tiger Airways Singapore.

The new Tiger Airways flights between Hong Kong and Jakarta is celebrated by an introductory promotion named "Hong Kong - Jakarta Return for Free" which will be open for booking until 29 May 2013. The promotion offers complimentary return (Jakarta to Hong Kong) airfare, excluding taxes, on round trips booked for travel between 25 July 2013 to 29 March 2014.

Tiger Airways is a group of budget carriers operating in the Asia Pacific region. The group consists of wholly-owned Tiger Airways Singapore and Tiger Airways Australia, and partially-owned Mandala Airlines and SEAir. Tiger Airways aims to expand its presence in Asia through both new strategic partnerships and organic growth. Tiger Airways flies to over 50 destinations in 13 countries in the Asia Pacific region.

Tiger Airways Singapore is rapidly expanding its network in Indonesia. Domestically within Indonesia, the budget airline flies between the capital city of Jakarta and key cities including Bali (Denpasar)  Medan, Surabaya, Padang, Pekanbaru and Yogyakarta. Tiger Airways is also launching budget flights to Yogyakarta and Bandung from Singapore starting on 1 July and 1 August 2013.

http://www.asiatraveltips.com/news13/245-TigerAirways.shtml

Budget flights to Yogyakarta and Bandung by Tiger Airways

Singapore based budget airline Tiger Airways is launching budget flights to Yogyakarta and Bandung from Singapore starting on 1 July and 1 August 2013. Flight ticket sales for 7 weekly services has started by May 7th 2013 for the travel period between 1 July 2013 and 29 March 2014 and to celebrate the launches Tiger Airways is now offering S$10 promotional fares exclusive of taxes and other charges.

Bandung is the capital of West Java province in Indonesia, the country's third largest city, and second largest metropolitan area in Indonesia with a population of 2.4 million in 2010. Yogyakarta is a city and the capital of Yogyakarta Special Region in Java, Indonesia renowned as a centre of classical Javanese fine art and culture such as batik, ballet, drama, music, poetry, and puppet shows. Both Bandung and Yogyakarta is emerging as a popular holiday destinations for Singaporean travellers as a shopping hotspot, offering scenic nature spots as well as gateway to World Heritage Sites such as the Borobudur and Prambana temples. On the other hand Singapore is a top holiday destination for Indonesians. Tiger Airways already fly to 5 destinations in Indonesia including those operated by partner airline Mandala Air: Denpasar, Medan, Jakarta, Pekanbaru and Surabaya.

"Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world, and is one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets. Jakarta airport is currently experiencing some air traffic congestion, with more than 40 airlines operating out of its grounds, ferrying over 57 million passengers in 2012 alone. To better facilitate air travel between the two countries, Tiger Airways has decided to bring its services to more second-tier cities. With the addition of these new destinations, we are certainly looking forward to serving the Indonesian market in a bigger way by offering value-for-money fares across our group network of over 50 cities in 13 countries" said Ho Yuen Sang, Managing Director of Tiger Airways Singapore.

A Tiger Mandala Airbus A320 seen here taking off from Singapore Changi Airport.

Tiger Airways Singapore operates budget flights to regional destinations in Southeast Asia, Australia, China and India from its main base at Singapore Changi Airport. Tiger Airways currently flies to destinations within an approximate five-hour radius around Singapore to 22 destinations in nine countries around the region.