Batik Air is the premium subsidiary of the Indonesian low-cost carrier, Lion Air. Despite the downgrading changes in recent years, the airline still maintains the makings of most Asian full-service carriers; this includes frills like complimentary refreshments, inflight entertainment, and baggage allowance. While I’ve reviewed the airline’s Business Class on an ex-Garuda Indonesia Boeing 737-800, I was eager to see how the Airbus A320 product would measure.

Booking Batik Air

I started scouring Google Flights to look for deals soon after I learnt that I had to be in Bali in several weeks. My search was quickly cut short when I saw that Batik Air has flights going for IDR 2,500,000 (~ USD 157, GBP 123) in Business Class. While Batik Air Business Class is a mediocre product I was all too familiar with, I knew I had to book this flight for two reasons; first, the flight is operated by an A320 and second, it departs Jakarta’s other airport, Halim Perdanakusuma. As I’ve never flown from Halim, this quickly became very exciting. Plus while doing so, I’ve finally got a chance to review the airline’s A320 product on Jakarta Potato!

Check-in

As Halim Perdanakusuma is an airport I’m very unfamiliar with, I spared a lot of time leaving home for this 08.15 departure. In fact, I might have gone too extreme, having arrived at the military airport’s passenger terminal at the ungodly time of 05.30. Still, this will give me a lot of time to check out the airline’s mysterious lounge, I thought. Well, that ended up being a mistake!

Anyway, I soon realised that I had severely overestimated the amount of time I had to spend at the airport. Halim Perdanakusuma is a tiny facility without much about it. Following a quick document check, I soon found myself in the spartan terminal which only had a handful of check-in counters. So much for a ‘legendary airport’ huh?

It didn’t take long for me to find the check-in counters, which are properly labelled as Batik Air (unlike the Lion Group counters you’ll find at Jakarta’s main airport). Seeing the burgundy carpet, it was also easy to guess that the airline had aptly provided a Business Class line.

Being deserted, I quickly approached the counter, where a friendly agent informed me that Batik Air no longer prints boarding passes. While inconvenient, this was at least not based on lies as noted by the signs on the counters (unlike the kerfuffle I experienced with Citilink in Bali!). After getting my bags checked, I soon went on my way through security, excited to check out the Batik Air Lounge!

Lounge

Batik Air operates an independent lounge facility at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport, which I’ve covered in a previous instalment. The facility is exclusive in a sort of way as it is reserved solely for the airline’s Business Class customers. However, that unfortunately doesn’t preclude it from being bad (and nearly laughably so). At the very least, I liked that being in the lounge will guarantee you the opportunity to board first.

Boarding

Unlike the experience at many major airports, I really liked the boarding procedure at Halim Airport. When it came time to board, which in our case was 07.30, a ground agent came to the lounge to take us to the boarding gate. After getting your boarding pass scanned, you’re taken down a flight of stairs and walked to the plane on foot. Better yet, Business Class passengers are always preboarded, which surely makes the procedure feel very relaxing. How exceedingly simple!

Conveniently parked at the end of the pedestrian walkway was our plane, PK-LUT. This is an Airbus A320-200 delivered new to Batik Air in May 2017. While I wanted to stick around the apron for longer, I knew I couldn’t do so, especially given how the airport still is an active military base.

As such, I quickly made my way up the stairs to our plane. I’ll note that this was probably the most peaceful boarding process I’ve had in Indonesia. For once, there wasn’t a busload of people on a mad dash to the plane. How nice! Once up, I was met by Anggita at the door, who cordially greeted me and pointed to my seat.

Batik Air Business Class Cabin

Like the airline’s Boeing 737-800s, the vast majority of Batik Air’s Airbus A320-200 fleet is equipped with 12 recliner seats in Business Class in a 2-2 configuration. Despite their identical cream and brown finishes to those on the 737s, the seats are actually different. Specifically, these are Zodiac Aerospace 7070 seats, which prominently do not feature leg rests.

Each seat features a pitch of about 39 inches, which is a lot less spacious than the 45-inch pitch on the airline’s Boeing 737-800s. Despite the tighter pitch, I was still happy with the seat’s padding, which I found to be pretty comfortable.

Furthermore, waiting on each seat upon boarding is a small pillow. These are about the same size as the pillows you’d find on an intercontinental Economy Class flight. However, they are covered in a nicer cloth pillowcase, fittingly featuring a batik pattern on one side.

After settling down, I found the legroom in the second row to be fine if not rather mediocre. In particular, there is a distance of about 21 cm (~8.3 inches) from my knee to the seatback, very similar to the offering on Malaysia Airlines’ new Boeing 737-800 Business Class.

Unsurprisingly, the bulkhead row offers a bit more legroom, with more than 30 cm (11.8 inches) of space from my knee to the legroom. Given the much better legroom, I ended up moving to the empty first row before departure. (after asking the cabin crew, of course!)

Seat details

Fitted in the seatback directly across you is the inflight entertainment monitor, which is crisp and intuitive and swivels in case the seat in front is reclined. Eschewing a remote control, the touchscreen monitor was easy enough to use. However, I’ll note that their higher placement on the bulkhead makes the lack of a remote control less convenient for those in the first row.

Furthermore, like most Business Class seats, the tray table pulls out of the side armrests. While small, I found these tables to be a lot more sturdy than the folded tables you’d commonly find with other seats. While on the topic of table surfaces, I’ll note that there is a massive surface on the centre armrest that can be used for drink glasses or phones.

Nicely enough, there is also a cocktail table that can be extended from the centre armrest. What was not nice, however, is the fact that Batik Air has chosen not to install any power outlets on these jets. Instead, you’ll find two lidded cutouts where the outlets usually are on the centre armrest.

In addition, the seat also has a slight recline, which I found to be a bit limited compared to other regional seats. Regardless, the recline function is operated manually by use of the recline button on the centre console. Finally, I’ll note that overhead air vents are installed in the cabin, which I always appreciate.

Departure from Jakarta

Boarding and pushback

As boarding went underway, Captain Wadehiyang welcomed us in English before announcing our flight time of 1 hour and 45 minutes, as well as our cruising altitude of 37,000 ft. After a lengthy boarding process, the doors ended up closing at 08.15, right on our scheduled departure time. While Economy Class was full, there were four seats left empty in Business Class.

We started pushing back one minute later, by which time senior cabin crew Anggita took to the intercom to welcome us on board in Indonesian and English, introducing herself and the captain.

As we taxied, the inflight safety video was played on the seatback monitors. This was followed by a showcase of the airline’s inflight entertainment offering; this I thought was interesting and frankly unnecessary, given the number of films available (more on that later).

Taxi and takeoff

Meanwhile, as we taxied to the runway, my eyes were glued out the window. With Halim Perdanakusuma being a secondary airport, we were treated to a view of some very interesting and unusual planes! This includes an Indonesian Navy IPTN CN235-220, which is an aircraft produced here in Indonesia! There were even planes belonging to airlines I didn’t realise still existed!

As the Halim Perdanakusuma does not have a complete taxiway, we had to go on the airport’s single runway and back taxi to the end to prepare for takeoff. This meant that we soon enough passed by the airport’s military portion.

After turning around at the end of the runway, we finally took off at 08.27 from Runway 24. Still, this didn’t spell the end of my planespotting given the myriad of interesting planes parked adjacent to the runway. There was even a DC-3 and a Saab 2000!

As I’ve been used to seeing Jakarta’s coastline after taking off from Soekarno-Hatta International, there was something very fun about seeing the Jagorawi toll road and the Cililitan neighbourhood instead.

Entertainment

While many Batik Air aircraft are no longer equipped with seatback inflight entertainment, I was surprised to see that this one was! Better yet, the entertainment system actually featured some content, unlike the offering on my flight to Singapore a year back.

The crisp seatback screen offers a small selection of just 27 movies, featuring mostly new B films alongside a few older titles. There are specifically 16 Western films, five Tamil films, and two Indonesian and Malaysian ones, alongside a few others. The selection of television shows wasn’t at all better with just 10 non-descript titles across multiple genres.

Despite being nothing groundbreaking, this system is a lot more convenient than the wireless streaming system you’d find on most flights. The fact that you have to download and register for the Tripper app for that system just makes it exceedingly bothersome. Of course, it is no surprise that the seat-back entertainment works in lieu of the wireless system, which was turned off on this flight.

In addition, I appreciate that Batik Air still provides an inflight magazine, countering the trend of many airlines around the world. Alongside the magazine in the seat pocket, you’ll also find a safety card, an airsickness bag, a guide to accessing the wireless entertainment system, as well as a prayer card. I’ll note that the latter in particular is something commonly found on Indonesian airlines, featuring prayers from the five religions recognised under Indonesian law.

New planes only (or not really)

As I wasn’t interested in the inflight entertainment selection, I ended up flicking through the creatively-named BatikAir inflight magazine. Unlike my last flight in July 2023, I noticed that the magazine no longer shows Super Air Jet to be part of the Lion Group. Did they decide to single out the airline once more?

Breakfast

Captain Wadehiyang turned off the seatbelt signs seven minutes after takeoff, prompting the crew to close the curtains between the cabins. Soon after, Anggita came by to ask if we would like to partake in the breakfast meal service. After agreeing, she first set up our tray tables with a tablecloth before coming back with our choice of meal.

For breakfast, there was a choice of either nasi gulai ayam (Indonesian chicken curry) or nasi ayam Pelalah (Balinese spiced chicken), both of which were served hot. In a classic Batik Air style, both meal choices were Indonesian and featured chicken as their protein. As we were heading to Bali, I felt that it was only fitting to opt for the latter option.

The nasi ayam pelalah was served hot on a clothed tray, alongside a miniature pandan chiffon cake and a bottle of water. The main dish itself featured a side of green beans and sambal, alongside steamed rice laden with carrots, peas, and corn. While the rice was a bit dry, I was pleasantly surprised to find the dish packed with flavour. In fact, this has to be the best inflight meal I’ve had on Batik Air!

For reference, the following is what the nasi gulai ayam looked like, which I was told to be rather appetising as well. Like the nasi ayam pelalah, this dish is served with a side of green beans and sambal over vegetable rice.

Lavatory

After finishing my meal, I headed to the lavatory to quickly freshen myself. Unsurprisingly, I was met by a standard Airbus A320 lavatory, which was at least clean and dry. While there were no special amenities to be spoken of, I did find the plastic flower set up by the sink to be an interesting touch!

Service

In general, Indonesia is a hospitable country and encountering friendly cabin crew is more of the norm rather than the exception. However, I found Anggita and the rest of the cabin crew on this flight to be particularly great. Not only were they warm and friendly, but they were also attentive and thoughtful. For instance, it didn’t take long for my meal tray to be cleared once I was finished with the meal, and I was also proactively offered more drinks. It felt as if I was flying Garuda! Each crew member I interacted with also spoke good English, which I was quite impressed by.

Arrival in Bali

About 27 minutes before landing, Captain Wadehiyang announced the start of our descent and the details of our arrival. Although we were expecting an early arrival at 11.00, he stated that our touchdown had been pushed back by eight minutes owing to traffic delays at Ngurah Rai International. To note, I also found it interesting that the captain only made announcements in English.

The seatbelt signs were turned on 15 minutes before landing, prompting the crew to prepare the cabin for landing. We were put on a holding pattern on our approach to the airport, giving us a great glimpse of Bali’s sacred Mount Agung.

Once we left our holding pattern, we approached Ngurah Rai Airport from the east, passing by the Tanjung Benoa resort belt and the Bali Mandara Toll Road.

We finally had a smooth touchdown on Runway 27 at 11.04, one minute before our scheduled arrival time. As we taxied off the runway, I noticed yet more interesting planes, including a Qatar Executive Gulfstream G650ER and an Embraer 190 belonging to Indonesian media magnate-turned-politician, Surya Paloh.

We soon arrived at our gate at the Domestic Terminal, parked next to a perfect frame of aircraft belonging to all of the Lion Air Group airlines – a Batik Air Boeing 737-800, a Lion Air Boeing 737-900ER, a Super Air Jet A320-200, and an ex-Wings Air ATR 72-600.

Before long, the boarding door was opened and the seatbelt signs were turned off. As I disembarked the aircraft, I thanked Anggita and the crew for the pleasant flight.

Verdict

As you may have already surmised from my review, I was very pleasantly surprised by this Batik Air flight. For once Batik Air’s flight operations did not look amateurish, where each aspect of the experience happened near-flawlessly. While the subpar lounge remains a point to be contended for, I was very impressed with the service and comfort on this flight. As I disembarked, I even found myself thinking ‘Wow, Batik Air has surely come a long way’. Although not world-class by any means, I’ll conclude that this is an excellent alternative to domestic Garuda Indonesia flights and at a fraction of the cost too.

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