REVIEW – Garuda Indonesia : Business Class – Bali to Jakarta (B77W)

As soon as I caught sight of our magnificent bird the excitement started to build. This was to be not only my first ever flight on Garuda Indonesia’s business class but also my first ever experience of the staggered cabin layout of the sogerma solstys seats.

The seats are alternately staggered, meaning that window seats are either close to the window and very private as a result of having the side table by the aisle, or closer to the aisle with the table close to the window. I personally prefer the former but can see how people who are less mobile/ claustrophobic would prefer the latter.

The cabin on this Boeing 777-300ER looked brand new and the finishes of the seats were of a high quality without looking tacky.

As you can see, the cabin wasn’t exactly full, which was actually quite surprising given how decent the Business Class fares are on this route.

Loads of space here, no issues with ‘foot coffins’ or ‘foot cocoons’

2 USB ports in addition to the universal power socket.

Headphone and S-Video sockets. It’s amazing how often S-Video appears in IFE systems, by the time HDMI is finally rolled out on planes, I’m sure it’ll be obsolete too.

Plenty of ways to adjust your seat plus a massage function. The IFE remote isn’t touch screen but it is very responsive and has a crisp and clean design.

The tray table and coat hook.

The centre seats alternate in the same fashion as the window seats, meaning that you end up being either very close to your seatmate or very far away.

I was offered either water or orange juice as a PDB by a really smiley and friendly FA. My water was brought out almost immediately with a thick cold towel placed on a bamboo holder.

Once airborne, we entered the cover of a Pink Floyd album

I honestly can’t get my head around people who don’t like window seats. Even in Economy I’ll put up with some discomfort if it allows me to set my eyes on sights like this.

The captain switched off the seatbelt signs shortly after take-off, given the sparse occupancy of the cabin, the meal service was very quick and efficient. There was no pre-meal drinks run though, this may well be due to the fact that only soft drinks and beer are served domestically on GA. I was initially given a tray featuring breads, a fruit salad and some unidentifiable but quite delicious savoury parfait.

I was then offered either a beef or vegetarian option. I asked for the beef rendang, which was hand delivered from the galley. The vegetables were well cooked and still had a bit of a crunch to them, the rice grains didn’t stick together at all and the rendang? It was spectacular. If you’re going to serve beef on a plane, slow cook it. I can’t remember a bad braised beef dish on a plane, steaks on the other hand? BA = ?

After the dinner service the cabin lights were dimmed and the starry night lights were switched on.

An hour later we touched down at CGK.

I caught sight of out ride to Tokyo, during our taxi

In some circumstances bus gates can be a total PITA. This was not one of them. Having the chance to get up close to those enormous engines on this balmy evening was absolutely awesome.