So, what's next?

Dear friends,

Having graduated from university, my last set of travels this year is officially completed. Some of you wondered what's next for me so let me share with you a piece of bitter-sweet news.

A few months back, I was contacted by a scout from one of the leading corporations in the Indonesian travel & leisure industry. I was offered a contract to write for them as part of their latest marketing initiative, an offer I gladly accept. At least, for the next three months, I look forward in working many exciting projects with them. Taking on this role also means I will be stationed at my home-base in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The agreement includes a confidentiality clause, so I will not be able to disclose as much on my next projects. However, I will do my best to keep my posts as relevant as possible to aviation and travel. For the time being, I remain committed to complete several projects that I am currently working on this year, including coverage of my first A350 flight, and completion of “Dubai dream-trip” series.

I would like to thank every single of you who have believed in me, I would have never made it this far without your unending support. Do stay in touch via Facebook, email, or Instagram.

Warmest regards,

Dirktraveller

2016 Flying and Travel year!

Suffice to say I've got no more flights planned in 2016. I am grateful that I have managed to complete the entire travels in 2016 safely, despite unexpected events such as the Hurricane Matthew in the United States earlier in October, or more recently, the Bersih protests in Kuala Lumpur. Not to mention the incident in Singapore. Without a doubt, all of these events challenges my capability of executing a contingency plan while traveling.

I would like to thank all of you for believing in me, particularly Ryan from QF Melbourne who I had the delight to meet and being given a tour of Qantas facilities in Melbourne. Also, to Mas Juan who have brought us around Dubai on his off day. We certainly had the most pleasant time visiting Dubai. Without both of you, I would not have things as interesting to share with everyone here this year!

2016 Flying Year, Overall Statistics

Total flights: 23

Distance covered: 69,300 km.

Most flown carrier: Emirates (4 flights) and Qantas (4 flights)

Most flown aircraft type: Boeing 777-300ER (5 flights)

New Airline flown: Oman Air, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Scoot, Malindo Air

New Aircraft type: Airbus A350-900

Most Memorable flights of the year

EK 408 Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne

I was not expecting an operational upgrade, but at the last minute I had the opportunity to continue my journey on this now discontinued route on Emirates Boeing 777's Business Class. The middle seat on a 2-3-2 could be better, but still the caring team lead by Purser Kevin was ever so friendly in handling the service on board, as if I have known all of the crew many years before the flight!

QF 422 Melbourne to Sydney

I finally had the opportunity to take a flight in Qantas' new Business Suite product. It is indeed a well thought hard-product, allowing the passengers the maximum comfort of sleep on overnight flights, with adequate amount of privacy and space for passengers to relax or work. Combined with the professionalism of Qantas crew, the journey could have not been better.

GA 417 Denpasar-Bali to Jakarta

It was indeed a mission failed, in terms of sampling the new Diamond Seats of Garuda A330. However, the flight on board the A330 with the older, angled-flat product proven to be a memorable one with a team of warm and friendly crew, who takes the time to interact and getting to know their passengers despite the short flight time. Also, I had the chance to meet Capt Manotar Napitupulu, one of GA's most experienced who happened to be in-command of our flight.

Not the Diamond Seats, Aboard Garuda A330 Business Class, GA417 DPS-CGK.

A Report dedicated to my friend Dito

who have been diligently tracking all the new A330s prior to my flight :)

Hi Everyone!

The launch of Garuda’s newest Business Class product, the Super Diamond Seats on a selected A330 aircraft has always intrigued me. Attending the product showcase on a Garuda Travel Expo last month in Jakarta, I understand that most of the aircraft fitted with these new seats plied routes from DPS.

Further research from flight tracking applications hints that my flight, GA417 would have the higher chance of being flown with the A330 with the new product. Although we all know, that nothing is certain, and equipment swaps does happen.

Nonetheless, it was my mission to sample the Super Diamond seats this time around. My colleague and I has been tracking for the four of these new birds the whole day and was so excited that one of the aircraft, registered PK-GHC was en-route to DPS.

As excited and jolly we were, the beautiful A330 was parked at our gate 1A. We were only to found out that the flight was delayed due to a technical issue with our aircraft, and subsequently after a 40 minutes’ delay we were assigned to another aircraft, A333 PK-GPT which was equipped with the older, angled-flat product.

I was slightly let down but I guess you don’t always get to win everything. While it was a regular scheduled commercial flight, my flight does seem more like a government charter, since most of the seats were filled with high ranking officials heading home from the Interpol Summit 2016 in Bali.

Prior to the flight, I had the opportunity to spend some time at the Garuda Indonesia Business Class lounge in Bali Airport's Domestic Terminal:

http://www.dirktraveller.com/single-post/2016/11/14/The-Garuda-Business-Lounge-Denpasar-Bali-Airport

FLIGHT DETAILS:

Garuda Indonesia, GA417

Denpasar Ngurah Rai (DPS) – Jakarta Soekarno Hatta (CGK)

Airbus A330-343E, PK-GPT

Delivered 20/08/2014, msn 2436

ETD: 1820 (Actual around 1910)

ETA: 1920 (Actual around 1942)

Seat 8A, Business Class

The Flight Service Manager donned in Blue Kebaya welcomed me aboard, and directed me to my seat 8A, which was the third row from the front door.

Her colleague in the green kebaya offered a welcome drink and hot towel. I was wondering if they have their signature drink ‘Martebe’ but it seems not to be loaded on this flight, and offered her apologies.

As soon as every passenger boarded the 254-seater aircraft, the doors were closed and we commenced pushback. After a short taxi, we were lined up for take-off. We were airborne around 40 minutes behind schedule.

In-flight: Denpasar > Jakarta

The in-flight wireless internet system was activated as soon as seat-belt signs were switched off. A free, 15 minutes’ usage of the internet was now introduced by the airline, meanwhile it costs up to USD 21.95 to enjoy the internet for the whole flight. Meanwhile, the in-flight entertainment system was updated into a newer version, similar to the ones found in the B777s. It is more user friendly, and smoother compared to its predecessor.

Mini self-service bar between the two business cabins.

As I was trying to take a cabin shot, one of the Flight Service Managers with blue kebaya asked me if I did catch the photo, and I told her I did. We then had a conversation about the new diamond seats and the B777 product as well.

She was impressed to found that there is a thing called ‘aviation-geeks’ out there. Unfortunately, the conversation had to be abruptly put on hold as the seat-belt signs were back on, in anticipation of a turbulent weather ahead.

Dinner Service

Dinner service commenced as soon as the weather condition stabilised. The FAs came around and asked people their preference. After setting our tables with the white cloth, I opted for a curry chicken with rice, while the other option was beef and potatoes.

Had my meal, which was tasty. The fried chicken was still as crispy. Enjoyed the strawberry cake dessert as well.

The crew came around offering any hot beverages and peanuts to accompany me for the remaining of flight time to CGK. Most of the passengers opted to sleep for the remaining of the flight, while few of us stayed up enjoying the In-flight entertainment system.

Arrival into Jakarta

Soon, it was time for descent into CGK. The FAs coming around ensuring everyone is ready for landing, before taking a seat at their respective jump-seats as well.

Descent was slightly bumpy given the heavy rain in CGK, while lightning strikes can be seen away from the window of my seats. Nonetheless, touchdown was incredibly smooth and was well executed.

We had quite a longer backtrack towards the remote stand that we were assigned to. We had to wait for a few moments before the mobile stairs attached to our L2 door for disembarkation.

During the time, I took a few more of photos and had an interesting conversation with the Japanese delegation seated behind me, about photography.

As everyone started disembarking, one of the cabin crews told me “the Captain would like to see you” and ushered me to the flight deck. Capt Manotar Napitupulu was one of the airline's most experienced, having joined them for more than thirty years. Occasionally, he was also invited by media to share his views in relation with aviation safety. I told him I was a fan of his and his work, which brought the cheer of the F/O and relief pilots. We had an interesting chat about aviation and a picture before I thanked him and the team for a job well done!

Arrivals section at CGK T3

Premium Arrivals lounge at CGK T3

The last bus ferried me to the new CGK Terminal 3, which is the new home of Garuda Indonesia’s domestic operations. While it is obvious that the terminal is clean and brand new, there are still construction works ongoing on different parts of the airport, and it does look a bit plainer than I’d imagine.

Final Thoughts of the Flight

But other than that, my arrival into the new terminal did not experience any hitch, and my baggage was collected by the Garuda premium arrivals team in CGK.

The absence of the new Diamond Seats was indeed a let-down for myself, but again as enthusiasts we all know too well that equipment swaps happens quite frequently. The older, angled flat product was still a comfortable product, more than adequate for the short hop to CGK.

I also appreciated the updated version of their IFE on the A330, which offers a smoother experience on using the IFE system, with reasonable variety of content. Meal service offerings were great, and was done immaculately by the crew.

The team of experienced crew made sure that everything else was well executed, even to the smallest of details. They were warm and friendly, and spared no effort in going around to make sure that everyone was enjoying their flight.

I’d like to thank Capt Manotar and the entire team aboard GA417, they certainly made this flight a great one!

Feel free to leave any reply or message. Thank you for reading my report!

Best Regards, Dirktraveller