Garuda Indonesia 777 Business Class Doha-Jakarta (Initial Thoughts)
- Konrad Tillman
- Jun 17
- 8 min read
Intro
Following a lovely visit to Aden, Yemen, I had the opportunity to try out Garuda Indonesia's business class on their 777-300 ER from Doha to Jakarta, which also happens to be Garuda's latest route addition to their network.
Just last year, Garuda and Qatar Airways launched a partnership in which they codeshare up to 7x daily flights from Qatar to Indonesia. With this partnership coming into effect, Garuda decided to implement a 1x daily flight between the two cities, utilizing either an A330-900neo or a 777-300ER, depending on the day.
Seeing as I was coming back from East Africa, and found space through KLM for 40,000 miles for this flight, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try out Garuda on a proper long-haul flight. How was it? Nothing short of exceptional!
For now, these are just my initial thoughts, but expect to see a full review in the coming months (I am currently behind).
The Seat/Cabin
Garuda Indonesia operates two variants of the 777-300ER across its fleet of 7 active 777s. 1 features 8 First Class seats, 36 business class seats (across 2 cabins), and 268 economy seats, which you will see flying the Jakarta-Amsterdam route for the time being, but soon will switch over to daily Denpasar-Tokyo (NRT) come August.
However, today, we were on one of the six 2-class configured 777-300 ERs featuring 26 business class seats in a 1-2-1 configuration, and 367 economy seats in a nicely laid out 3-3-3 configuration (a rarity these days).
You will frequently find these 777s operating to Medina and Jeddah, with the occasional flights to Hyderabad and Doha.
Across the cabin, seats alternate from being closer to the window and closer to the aisle when selecting A/C/H/K. For solo travelers, I recommend selecting either A or K, while those traveling as a couple should opt for the honeymoon seats E/F.
Can more airlines do this, please? United markets 9A and 10A the same, even though one faces the window and the other faces the aisle. At least Garuda makes it easy 😅.
These seats certainly won't win any awards for being state of the art, but considering that Garuda prices their business class quite reasonably, it's a very acceptable hard product.
Each seat features a deep cutout for your feet for sleeping, along with easy-to-use seat controls and a table acceptable for storing belongings. Unlike Etihad, the crew on Garuda won't give you a hard time if you keep a charger on the table during taxi, takeoff, and landing 🥴.
One last aspect to add is that while the Garuda cabin might seem like an ordinary plane cabin when the lights are on...
They are one of the few carriers that exhibit starlit ceilings, along with the likes of Emirates and EVA. This is something so small that airlines often overlook, but sets the ambiance perfectly for a good night's sleep.
Yes, each seat features a power outlet, USB-C plug-in, and an IFE offering a decent selection. I will touch on those more in the review, though.
Amenities/IFE
In my previous review of Garuda from Seoul to Denpasar, I had touched on the matter of the airline simply providing a light red blanket. While acceptable for a daytime flight, I was a bit skeptical of an 8.5-hour redeye.
So arriving at my seat, I was pleased to find a comfortable pillow, as well as a thick and unbelievably comfortable dark blue blanket for this evening's nap.
Keep in mind that I was having a chat with the crew, and this depends on stock supplies. Oftentimes, the lower-yield, shorter routes are not prioritized, while Doha and Amsterdam are, conversely.
Additionally, I was very happy to see that Garuda has elevated their amenity kit in the past year, offering the CUTEST slippers I have ever come across in my life. Now, if only they offered matching pajamas 😅.
In terms of IFE, passengers have the option of purchasing wifi to keep themselves entertained, or enjoying free movies and TV shows in the seatback entertainment.
While the wifi is capped and quite expensive (21$ for 250mb), the IFE offered an okay selection. Nothing extraordinary, but some good options, including the following.
Bed Time
Prior to departure, I had asked one of the cabin crew if I could move from my seat 6H back to 12E/F since they were empty. The purser came around to have a chat with me and was happily able to accommodate me. This even worked out for the better, since another man in the cabin wanted a window!
Why didn't I want a window? Unlike most people, I love the honeymoon suites in the center of the other seat is unoccupied. It becomes a little cocoon, perfect for getting comfortable and stretching out.
Prior to takeoff, the cabin crew came around asking all of the passengers what we would like to have after departure. Unlike most carriers, Garuda is actually intelligent here by not offering a full meal after a 2:35 am departure, but instead offering a snack after departure and a full meal 2 hours prior to arrival.
It's insane to me that more airlines cannot get this right...
Anyways, we ended up departing 20 minutes behind schedule (presumably due to cargo loading from what I could hear), and within 9 minutes after takeoff, a hot towel and a glass of champagne were brought out to me. Talk about efficiency!
But honestly, after lifting AK's in Yemen 2 days prior, and being cramped on a 150$ per hour economy flight on Qatar from Djibouti, it was time to make up my bed for this evening.
Utilizing the free blanket and pillow from the seat next door, I made my makeshift mattress pad (Garuda does not offer one in business), as well as adding a second pillow.
I don't sleep on two pillows, the second one is used as a cuddle pillow since I am on the road so much, it's impossible to have a relationship 😅🤦♂️.
Jokes aside, here, I had one of the best sleeps I have had outside of United Polaris (which has become a habit). I slept straight through for 5.5 hours and woke up when we were about 2 hours and 15 minutes from Jakarta.
Perfect
Meal Service
Arising from my sleep-induced coma, the lovely flight attendant working my section came around a few minutes later to ask if I would like anything to drink. I requested a cappicino, a glass of champers, and a sparkling water which was prompty brought out to me with, wait for it, another hot towel!
Isn't it neat that Garuda offers actual espresso coffee onboard? It's one of the highlights of the carrier.
Approximately 1 hour and 50 minutes before landing, the cabin crew switched the lights on, and brought out... drumroll please...
Another hot towel!
Simultaneously, the lovely FA asked what I would like to eat for lunch. I mentioned I had an allergy to nuts, but would be interested in the Chicken Rendang. She checked in with the purser, who informed her that there might be nuts in the Rendang, so it was safer to stick with the Halibut.
Anyways, below is what the menu looked like for today's flight.
Opting to skip the appetizer, my main course was brought out approximately 20 minutes later and looked delightful. I think Garuda has some of the best presentation plating in the world for business class, but would love to see the airline get rid of the tray, and do plate-to-table service. It would put the icing on the cake.
To be honest, I don't eat fish on a plane a lot (only the fish I catch 😉), but I found it to be well-cooked and not too dry at all.
For dessert, there was an option between a cheesecake and a cheese platter (can you bring back the ice-cream fish please Garuda 😅), and I chose the cheese platter, accompanied by a glass of Cotes Du Rhone.
Once again, actual wine glasses. Something which you don't even see in SQ Business. Extremely impressive.
All in all, the meal was wrapped up with about an hour until landing.
Service
As many people in aviation know, Garuda is highly regarded for its fantastic service onboard, and was even ranked as the best cabin crew by Skytrax back in 2023. Well, over my last few flights with the airline, I have experienced exceptional service, and today was no different. Here are a few examples that come to mind:
Upon boarding, I was shown to my seat by name and asked what I would like to drink prior to pushback.
When requesting to change seats, the purser actively came over to chat with me and offered to help move my luggage.
Once airborne, I had informed the crew I just wanted to have a glass of champers and knock out, so receiving a glass of champagne 9 minutes after takeoff is probably the fastest I have ever received a drink.
Upon waking up, I waltzed around the snack basket looking for a chocolate bar. While they had unfortunately run out, the purser went around looking for some and ended up bringing some to my seat. She even remembered I had a nut allergy, as the package said "may contain", which she mentioned to me.
Finally, prior to landing, they had opened up a fresh bottle of champers (I love my champers from time to time), and came around to keep it topped off, collecting my flute once we had hit 10,000 feet.
On approach with a glass of champers: fantastic.
It wasn't actually just good service; the crew actively went above and beyond to make sure that passengers were taken care of the whole flight. This is where Garuda truly shines.
Final Thoughts
While these are just my initial thoughts, I wanted to provide a detailed look into a product that hasn't been reviewed much recently online. And the verdict?
When Garuda is good, they are really good. Perhaps the best carrier in Southeast Asia. If you are able to secure a seat on their 777, get lucky with the comfortable blankets, manage to have the caterers load the elegant champagne flutes, and get a cabin crew like today, you will be in for one of the best business class flights of your life.
However, it also must be noted that their wifi is data capped (21$ to 250mb), and this isn't always representative of what a Garuda flight will look like. If you end up on the A330-300 in a 2-2-2 configuration on a 6-hour flight with the light red blankets, it won't be as good as this flight was.
I understand that after COVID-19, Garuda is trying to once again become profitable. If they are able to renovate some of the older subfleets and standardize the business class experience, they could be highly competitive in the Southeast Asia market.
