Review: Lion Air Domestic Flight – Jakarta to Palu

I arrived at the Lion Air domestic terminal with 70 minutes to spare. Outside the terminal there was a long line as you need to be screened first and security had to verify you have an actual ticket before being allowed into the building. It is important you have an actual printed copy of your flight booking, although it is possible to open your laptop and show security an e-ticket.

Once I got in, I was confronted by an endless amount of lines with no clear direction being given on where to line up.

After waiting in a line for a few minutes, I asked a staff member if there were any shorter lines since the flight check in cutoff time was approaching.

He directed me to a shorter line at the farthest end of the check in counters. However, the line was being held up by a passenger checking in at least 10 boxes.

Another lady behind me had at least 20 bags to check in! I asked the line agent again as my cutoff time approached and he assured me that I would make my flight.

Finally, when I got to the desk, the check in agent initially couldn’t check me in and called his supervisor. In a scene straight out of a music video, the high heel wearing supervisor hopped onto different moving conveyer belts before going to an office to sort it out.

At this point I was getting quite nervous as it was 30 minutes before departure, but eventually I got a printed ticket and checked in my luggage. Unlike most LCC’s, Lion Air offers 15 kg checked in luggage complimentary for domestic flights and 20 kg for its international flights. As I ran to security, I checked my pockets and noticed my passport was missing. I went back to the counter and turns out the check in agent forgot to give my passport back!

After running back to security again, I arrived at the gate all sweaty only to see that my flight was delayed. The seating area was very basic, with metal chairs the norm, and the air conditioning barely working. They did have charging stations where you could charge your phones, and the free Wi-Fi was nice.

Lion Air is known for its frequent delays and it was no surprise that our flight slightly delayed. Now I don’t know if this is a regular occurrence but ground staff came and gave everyone a light snack and sealed water cups.

After around 45 minutes our flight was ready to be boarded and we headed out of the gates and took a remote bus to our plane, a Boeing 737-900.

The aircraft was relatively well maintained and thankfully the air conditioning was running on fall blast. The seat pitch is 29 inches, which is a bit tight, even for a low cost carrier but the seats did recline.

Interestingly enough the bins had ads, with one featuring the Burj Dubai advertising instant coffee.

Boarding took a while and then we were put on a holding pattern for another hour before finally lifting off 2 hours behind schedule.

The flight was quite uneventful, with a few snacks and drinks being offered for purchase at around $1 per item.

Apparently Lion Air was the first airline to fly the 737-900ER and is quite proud of it, putting it on numerous billboards and even its Oreo boxes.

However, the bathrooms poorly maintained and the seats were covered with “splash”, not a pleasant sight to see.

Soon enough it was time for our descent into Palu, the cabin lights were turned off and the ceiling was illuminated, a new feature on the 737-900.

Overall, the flight itself was comfortable enough although the seats were a bit cramped.

Both ground staff and air crew are friendly and trying their best but Lion Air’s check in terminal in Jakarta is extremely crowded and chaotic. You definitely need to find an agent to help you or you’ll be stuck in line for at least an hour and possibly miss your flight.

However, with prices of tickets significantly cheaper than Garuda ($100 vs $270), I’d still probably fly Lion Air again for direct short haul flights. Just build in a long layover time between connections; otherwise you might miss your next flight due to frequent delays.