Question What's the current state of Indo airlines?

[Jacob110]

Planning a trip to Banda so I'll need to fly into Jakarta (CGK) and get a connecting flight into Ambon. Frustratingly it appears that Garuda have adjusted their schedule so that they leave in the late morning and do not arrive into Ambon until the late afternoon. My itinerary would require me to get a very early flight to get to Ambon before midday if I don't want to wait an extra night there.
That leaves BatikAir and Citilink as the main options with flight timing that works. LionAir is presumably still not the greatest idea so I was wondering if anyone who frequents the area has reccommendations on which of the two is better? The Blue/White manta liveaboard info sheet says that they reccomend BatikAir and that Citilink is often late which I find odd considering that Citilink is a subsidiary of a much more established and high end airline?

Would people pick one of BatikAir or Citilink or take the extra night in Ambon and fly with Garuda?

 

[Centrals]

Citilink is the low cost brand of Garuda.
An extra night to recover from jetlag.

 

[Damselfish]

I’d go with extra night to rest up and leave room for problems, and fly a better airline.

 

[Joneill]

I’d go with extra night to rest up and leave room for problems, and fly a better airline.

Exactly - why risk it? I arrive at least 1 day before a LOB to allow for issues with flight delays and/or baggage delays. After traveling so far, it’s crazy (to me) to risk either missing the boat or not having my gear! Accommodations and food in Indo for a day are super cheap, so not really a factor in the overall cost of a trip.

 

[Cali_diver]

We just overnighted in Ambon. Easy peasy. Pro tip: Pick a hotel closer to the airport. Swisbel is pretty far away. Or go a couple days early and stay with spice island and get some great muck diving in.

 

[Jacob110]

We just overnighted in Ambon. Easy peasy. Pro tip: Pick a hotel closer to the airport. Swisbel is pretty far away. Or go a couple days early and stay with spice island and get some great muck diving in.

Yeah getting the impression that overnighting in Ambon is the way to go. Any hotel recs beyond spice island divers if you're just spending one night there?

 

[Cert1967]

Hotel Santika - reasonable, clean, close to restaurants and Red and White and supermarket

 

[TostitoBandito]

I'd take the night and fly with the good airline. You don't want to deal with those sketchy discount operators who constantly cancel flights and whatnot when you're trying to time up your travel halfway around the world.

 

[Living4Experiences]

Fly Garuda and stay the extra night to recoup from the long journey. You need to build in extra time for unforeseen delays or cancellations.