Flight date: 15 February 2012
Aircraft: Boeing 737-900
Flight Number: JT568
Flight Time: 1hr 10mins
Class: Economy class
Seat: 17C
It was hot and I’d had a huge day in Yogyakarta, visiting Borobudur and Prambanan Temples and the Sultans Palace, so I was fine being dropped by my tour guide at Yogyakarta International Airport airport at 5pm for my 8:50pm flight to back to Denpasar, Bali, as I could just relax and sit in the air-conditioned terminal. It was too early to check in, so I found a small cafe next to the check in area where I settled in and waited for it to open.
Now I normally wouldn’t blog about food, unless it was airline food, but I was waiting for a flight in an airport, so it kind of counts, right? From the menu I ordered Soto Ayam, I believe it was the local Yogyakarta version (there are several similar versions throughout Indonesia) and a Bintang beer. The soup was divine, the yellowish stock, from added turmeric, had a slight viscose texture. It was very flavoursome with huge chunks of white chicken meat, tomato, egg and noodles in the soup. On the side came prawn crackers and a dish consisting of chili flakes, lime wedges and kecap manis condiments. As simple as it was and so very local, this was the best dish I experienced on this trip to Indonesia.
I was flying Lion Air, A low cost carrier and Indonesia’s largest privately run airline. After checking in with no luggage at Yogyakarta International airport, I made my way through security into the packed waiting lounge. I managed to find myself a window seat in a small smokers cafe on ground level right where aircraft were pulling into their bays. The aircraft noses came so close to the glass I was sitting behind, it reminded me of the scene from the movie ‘Flying High’ (‘Airplane’ in North America) where an aircraft, a Boeing 747, crashes through the glass at the terminal gates, but thankfully this didn’t happen.
Finally it was time to board the aircraft at around 8:20pm and all passengers made their way across the tarmac to the waiting Boeing 737-900ER, the Boeing aircraft variant that Lion Air was the launch customer for. Operating 64 of the aircraft type in its fleet of 80 aircraft, Lion Air has also set a record when it placed the largest order ever for 230 aircraft from Boeing in November 2011.
They seemed to squeezed quite a few blue leather covered seats into this aircraft and it wasn’t the most comfortable I had experienced. The interior seemed quite worn also which I was surprised at with being a newish aircraft type. There was no service except a trolley of merchandise such as hats that could be purchased. The flight attendants were all very friendly and spoke clear English. The flight departed and arrived in Denpasar, Bali on time.
Matty Somewhere 
This is great Matt. Keep up the interesting info on planes and stuff. Love it.
Good post Matt. Didn’t know you were in bali.
Love that your blogging about food. Ha!
Thanks, still learning this blogging thing… yes I do get around… oh wait, how do I delete that???
Hehe I wonder how many hats they sell on each flight? 😛
The hats would add weight to the aircraft thus increasing fuel consumption, therefore another question may be how many hats do they ‘carry’ on board each flight?
The answer to your question, however I think would be NONE!
“Operating 64 of the aircraft type in its fleet of 80 aircraft, Lion Air has also set a record when it placed the largest order ever for 230 aircraft from Boeing in November 2011.” So if LionAir ordered 230 aircraft, why do they have a fleet of only 80?