Please rank the following inter-island airlines in Indonesia (best to worst)

[divedrewsf]

I'm primarily seeking this feedback for CGK-SOQ, but perhaps the overall inter-Indonesia flying experience of others with these airlines is worth taking into account as well.

Choices are:
Garuda
Batik
Lion
Super Air Jet
Selita

Please rank each with 5 being best; 1 being worst. EG:
Garuda 5
Selita 4
Super Air Jet 3
Batik 2
Lion 1

(or just in ranked order if you prefer/easier)

I'd also welcome people's very brief feedback/context as well (i.e. avoid xx airline at all costs, always just fly xx airline within Indonesia, like that).

Thank you!

EDIT: trying to create my first poll for this. please give me a sec before replying. Thx.
EDIT2: unable to make a ranking poll here it appears. Will change body accordingly and ask for contextual replies.

 

[stepfen]

Never heard of selita and super air in my ~20 years of visiting Indonesia. I'm not saying they don't exist - I just have never heard or used them.

Garuda is by far the best and most reliable of these. If booked well in advance tickets can be similarly priced to the others! They also offer a complimentary extra suitcase (20kg extra on top of the usual 20kg) for diving equipment even at the economy class.

Second is supposed to be Batik and then Lion. Batik and lion belong to the same group and Batik is supposed to be the "higher end" one. Quite often the airplane / service you will get will be the same at the end of the day.

Changes to your itinerary (change of time, extra stop overs in "direct" flights etc) are very common with Batik and Lion. IF they want to let you know about imminent changes in your flight, their favorite way of doing so is whatsapp, so make sure you have it installed and linked to the telephone number you declared in your booking. Quite often they don't bother to inform passengers about such changes at all and you will find out upon reaching the checkin desk.

Good luck

 

[Luko]

Never heard of selita and super air in my ~20 years of visiting Indonesia. I'm not saying they don't exist - I just have never heard or used them.

I guess OP meant Pelita.
SuperAir Jet is a another subsidiary of Lionair Group, you'll see their (quite old) planes quite often in Jakarta or Bali airports.

OP forgot to mention Trans Nusa Air which is IMO more reliable than Wings/Lion when traveling east of Indonesia (on the Sorong to Manado leg for instance).

In my experience I'll put Garuda way ahead, then TransNusa air, and then after all of the Lion Group Airlines. Never flew on Pelita.

 

[Darnold9999]

Same as above. Garuda if possible, for the extra dive gear bag and reliability. Then the Lion Air group Batik and Lion Air. SuperAir Jet I understand is the least reliable of the options but have had bad experiences on both Batik and Lion Air. Wings is another of the group and flies on shorter routes and surprisingly in my experience is more reliable because of that. That could be just luck. Never flown the other option.

 

[USC8791]

I can only speak to Garuda. Flew them CGK - SOQ, then SOQ-CGK-DPS. All flights were on time. The cabin crew was excellent. I was able to book the CGK-SOQ flight on Delta’s website using SkyMiles. Garuda offers additional baggage weight allowance for dive equipment. I can’t think of a reason to not recommend Garuda.

 

[TostitoBandito]

Garuda is the flag carrier for the entire country of Indonesia, so not really in the same category as the discount domestic carriers. They fly all over the world, though mostly within Asia. We don't really have a national carrier in the US, but Garuda is much more along the lines of a Delta or United than a Spirit or Southwest.

And yeah, us divers also get essentially a free checked bag on Garuda which makes it pretty seamless to transition from your overseas flight to them for domestic travel. I never even considered using anyone else when I booked my trip earlier this year.

 

[Living4Experiences]

I've only used Garuda and, based on SB forum feedback, would never use Lion or Batik. The extra dive bag is crucial. Nothing abnormal happened on my flights with the baggage or delays.

 

[Krisunderwater]

Living in Indonesia since 2018. My preference is:

Garuda 5: Reliable, 23 kg free sports gear (diving), but more expensive
Lion Air 3: Not very reliable for long term planning. Sometimes offers multiple flights per day and merge them to one flight during that specific day, makes planning harder. But cheap.
Batik 3: Same like Lion Air.
Super Air Jet 3: Same like Lion Air.

Don't know Selita.

Another option is sometimes Air Asia: 4. Cheap, Reliable but crowded (smaller leg space). Malaysian company but connects some Indonesian airports.

Remote option is Susi Air. Let me know if you need information regarding that too.

 

[Bookworm11]

I only flew on Garuda. I flew Garuda from Doha to Jakarta, and then on to Sorong, and then the reverse. I debated other airlines, but the research I did discussed other airlines changing or canceling flights at thelast minute. i did not want to risk that as I was going on a LOB out, and then staying in Bali for 9 nights after that. I was very happy on Garuda. I wasn' thrilled with the food-that was the worst part, but the other airlines didn't even offer food. The free bag for diving equipment was great, too! I found the seat fairly comfortable, and the flight attendants nice. The seats were fine to sleep in, too. 5!!

 

[pelan-pelan]

We have to fly from Manado to Denpasar next year. The choice for direct flights appears to be either Lion Air or Trans Nusa. We want direct flight because we will have dive gear with us and changes = lost luggage = unhappiness! We have flown Lion Air and have flown a bit in Indonesia. We don't believe times and schedules and expect changes.

We have never flown Trans Nusa but it seems to get a poor rating on the ratings websites. Does anyone have first hand experience of them? Especially welcome any comments about direct flights from Manado to Denpasar.