Inflight Review : Lion Air. Where the cheapest ticket is available

                           

Inflight Review by : Gan Yung Chyan

                              / KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to Everyone

On 10 November 2018, the reporter of this travel news medium embarked on his inaugural B737-900 ER flight to Jakarta, touching down in Cengkareng or Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (CGK) in Tangerang and returned to Singapore at night with the following review on Lion Air flights. 

Airline and Routes: Lion Air, as part of the Lion Group, the second largest airline group of Indonesia after Garuda Indonesia Group, operates a fleet of 1 B747-400. 3 Airbus A330-300, 67 B737-900 ER, 37 B737-800 NG and 10 B737 MAX 8 aircraft. It flies daily to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur from Cengkareng and now flies weekly from the airport to Haikou on Saturdays. International charter  flights from Denpasar link Macau, Nanning, Xi'an Xianyang, Chongqing, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Pudong, Hefei, Changzhou, Jinan, Changsha, Nanchang, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Wuhan and Zhengzhou while flights from Manado reach Macau, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Changsha, Chongqing, Wuhan, Changshou and Zhengzhou. It also has flights to Madinah and Jeddah from Cengkareng, Kualanamu and seasonal Haji flights from Pekanbaru. 

News : In 2019, Lion Air plans Haji pilgrimage flights from Banda Aceh, Padang, Pekanbaru, Palembang, Mertajati, Solo, Surabaya, Balikpapan and Makassar besides the regular flights from Cengkareng and Kualanamu. According to its latest route map, Lion Air has plans to launch direct flights to Trivandrum, India, from Cengkareng, Kualanamu and other Indonesian international airports.

Livery : The official red and white lion logo of Lion Air is so popular that it is also the logo of its subsidiaries Malindo Air and Thai Lion Air . Kazakhstan's low-cost airline FlyArystan's red lion logo is similar and is inspired by Lion Air logo.****

Aircraft : The B737-900 ER seat legroom is not spacious. It is narrower than an Airbus A320 seat legroom as more seats are added to it so that there are more low fares to sell on this type of aircraft. Travel on this flight is safe. There are no media reports of this type of aircraft getting involved in any Lion Air crash. Lion Air's routes to Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and China use this aircraft while domestic flights to Pekanbaru, Balikpapan, Pangkal Pinang and Banda Aceh utilize 737 MAX 8.***

Baggage Requirements : A carry-on baggage measuring 115 cm in total to be stowed in the overhead compartment and a small item to be stowed under the seat are accepted. Total carry-on baggage weight is maximum 7 kg only.***

Safety Demonstrations : Adequate. ***

Inflight Magazine : Lionmag is the only official inflight magazine of  Lion Air, in 99 per cent Bahasa Indonesia and balance in English. The words on its route map are very small to read. The material used for the magazine is easily damaged by rough machinery binding.**

Inflight Service / Entertainment / Onboard Meals and Refreshments : There is no inflight meal service on the 1 hour 20 to 25 minutes flight between Cengkareng and Singapore. Unlike flights in Lion Air's earlier history, free mineral water is not served with initiative. **

Postcard / Stationery : No aircraft postcards onboard all Lion Group flights. Unless the passenger requests for Indonesia Custom and Immigration forms, the air stewardesses do not distribute the forms. If one wants to write something, write on the air sickness bag.**

Sky Shop : None. This ensures that Lion Air tickets in Southeast Asia are priced lowest among the Lion Group flights and lower than AirAsia, Jetstar and Scoot Tigerair Pte Ltd flights.****

Surcharges :  None. ***

Bookings : One can book a  Lion Air ticket at www.lionair.con and www.lionairthai.com, and last minute return tickets at its Changi Airport Terminal 3 Row 1 counter can be as low as 50 to 130 Singapore Dollars, including taxes. Promotional fares are available at the counter at last minute. Payments can be made via credit card and debit card now.****

Check-In and Departures : Check-in at Changi Airport opens 3 hours before departure and closes 45 minutes before departure. The airport states passengers can start checking the departure gate four hours before departures. Passengers can still check-in for Lion Air flight at 11.15 pm for departure at 12 pm or 11.50 pm if the screen shows Thai Lion Air check-in announcement as Lion Group members share the same counter check-in rows. The aircraft thus has frequent departure delays for the benefit of late-arriving passengers, but delays are bad for passengers that have to return home by 10 pm.***

Ground service in response  to passengers' requests and enquiries : Good.***

Overall Impression :  Lion Air is a three-star airline. It needs to improve on inflight service and schedules more flight departures to international cities.***

** Poor / two-star
*** Good / three-star

**** Very good / four-star
****** Excellent / six-star (the highest category)