Jetstar Asia Airways Pte Ltd (operating as Jetstar Asia) is a low-cost airline based in Singapore. It is one of the Asian offshoots of parent Jetstar Airways, the low-cost subsidiary airline of Australia’s Qantas airline. It operates services to regional destinations in Southeast Asia to countries such as Myanmar, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. It also flies to regional routes in East Asia such as Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong. It is the main feeder airline for its parent company Jetstar Airways for budget passengers flying to Australia. Its sister airlines include Jetstar in New Zealand and Jetstar Japan.

I was flying Jetstar to Jakarta because it was the cheapest flight available. I did not add on checkin luggage because I was traveling with a backpack. Jetstar allows 7kg of carry on luggage but they do not really weigh your carry-on unless it seems out of the ordinary.
I went to the airport around 5.30pm as I wanted to spend some time in the lounge. After a few rounds of cava and wine as well as dinner, I headed to the gate for my flight.

Boarding time was supposed to start at 19:20 but by 19:40 we only began boarding. Passengers with priority boarding were invited to board first, followed by those traveling with kids and elderly.

Jetstar uses mainly the Airbus A320 aircraft with a 3-3 seating arrangement. It can carry up to 180 passengers on each flight. The seat pitch at 29 inches is not that wide, but we just want to get from one point to another based on the cheapest fare, so the comfort can be compromised.

However, on that day, just as we were pulled back from the gate, the captain announced that there was a technical error and the plane could not fly. One of the seven computer systems was unable to boot up. Many people started to get impatient and upset, including me. They asked if there would be hotel provided or when is the next flight available. For me, I just wanted to reach Jakarta on that night and any delay would result in a complication in my itinerary.

We taxied back to the gate and the aircraft technicians came on board to fix the issue. Luckily they managed to fix the issue and to the cheers of everyone, the pilot announced that the plane was ready for take off. Passengers were told to go back to their seats and once again, the crew prepared the cabin for take off. We finally took off around 21:30.

The flight time was actually 1 hour 30 minutes, so Jetstar had actually set aside a buffer when they wrote that the estimated duration was 2 hours 5 minutes. With that buffer, we caught up for lost time and it was 22:00 local time when we touched down at Soekano-Hatta International Airport (Jakarta).

The G20 summit was ongoing and there were clear signs posted along the way to the arrivals. It was a long walk of around 15 minutes. The airport was very quiet as most flights had landed earlier during the day.

There was also a Covid-19 testing area which is not in use anymore. Now, in order to enter Indonesia, you just need to show proof of your vaccines (2 shots and booster) to the customs official. I passed by a signpost in the airport, with a QR code to download the PeduliLindungi app. It is like our TraceTogether app in Singapore, where you have to checkin before entering each place. The PeduliLindungi is not used anymore so it was pointless to download it.

Immigration counters were quite empty. I proceeded to the foreigner’s lane and queued for 5 minutes only. With a new sticker in my passport which contains a QR code, I am officially in Indonesia! I walked out of the arrivals hall and headed to the nearby carpark to meet my Grab driver to send me to the hotel.

Jetstar is a budget airline so do not expect too much during the flight. Travel light and bring a carry-on luggage on board the plane. The flight delay was unexpected but I wished that the crew could have handled it better. The captain only provided some updates after a long while when we stopped at the tarmac. The good thing is that there was an aerobridge at Jakarta airport and we could alight using the bridge.