Jakarta Airport

I arrived into Jakarta airport at around 830am on 28 June 2016. The airport feels small but thankfully not overcrowded. There was not a lot of retail shops but there were some eateries. Starbucks is there. The toilets are busy and may require you to walk to the next one to avoid queueing. At arrival, there is a booth for foreigners who require visa to make payment just before the getting to immigration. The queue is quite long. Look up the banner for a list of countries that do not require visa to enter the country and allows you to go direct to the immigration. At the immigration, the queues are long and be prepared to wait.

Arrival experience at Jakarta Airport can be quite unpleasant. I landed in the evening at the same time as a few other international flights. The baggage belt area was very crowded and it took almost an hour until my suitcase arrived. There were many people offering taxi service in the arrival area which I found very bothering. Departure experience seems better. The walk from the entrance until boarding the plane was smooth and rather pleasant. The design of the airport is rather traditional and I find it very unique. Staff were very friendly and courteous, shopping was okay.

My husband left his watch at Jakarta airport security checkpoint and didn't realise it until he was on the flight. Upon reaching Singapore about 2 hours later, he called the airport to enquire about the watch. The airport officer told him to call back while they checked. Half an hour later he called the airport again and the officials at the airport told him, yes they found his watch. Luckily he had a colleague who was flying back to Singapore from Jakarta a few hours later. The customs officer in Jakarta airport gave the watch to my husband's colleague - wonderful service.

Terrible place to transit, you have to clear immigration and come back in, only the immigration to come back in was closed with no information pertaining to when it would open (even staff didn't know). One sleepless night not wanting to miss my flight. It eventually opened at 3am in time for my 4:30am flight. Paradoxically the airside lounge is open 24 hours. As others say, a very dated airport but the WiFi was reliable and there were places to charge my phone.

Over the years, they have shown some significant improvement. Traffic flow was acceptable coming into the departure areas around 11am on a weekday. I flew Thai airways and was easy to find the check in counter. I passed immigration quickly without much waiting. A common shared premium lounge was used. Shopping at the airport is so so, plenty of space of seat and wait for flights. Overall, the experience was fine.

Didn't know that this airport have a limit of 8 hrs as maximum transit time for baggage inline to destination. I had to pay 4 x A$50 visa fee get out of the airport collect the baggage and re enter after 8 hrs, couldn't do much out there around midnight. Break was too short to stay in a hotel outside and airport hotel was under refurbishment. Decent international airport, but Not much food options available for transit passengers. Mobile phone charging point available for Indonesian power adapter only.

Arrival: I arrived at Jakarta at around midnight so the lack of passengers was comforting. Everything was carpeted and the building is outdated. The immigration consul was also efficient and cheerful, a plus. However, when you go out of the airport, it is very chaotic so keep your baggage close. Departure: The terminal that we used is updated and modern. On departure, security is very strict. I have to go through 4 scanners, on your way in, after you check in, before you go to your gate, before you board the plane. All in all, the Jakarta's airport is convenient but needs upgrading and care.

I wished that Doc and Marty McFly had turned up and brought me back to the future when I got there. After 11 years of absence, I went to Indonesia again. The airport is barely renovated. Jakarta Airport is definitely an ancient relic. Customs employee didn't even give a clear answer about my visa clearance question. Although they try to keep everything clean, it doesn't feel clean. The buildings, the escalators, the security check points, the luggage conveyor belts, the tile floors, the rest rooms and basically everything inside the buildings are pretty much outdated. As far as I know, it only has one long check in area, with a row of check counters for various airlines (International flights). No clear direction signs across the airport, so I had to ask ground crew a couple of times where to go. The positive side of it are friendly people (crew), reasonable shopping area with reasonable amount of stores (mostly souvenirs), AC system everywhere to make everything bearable in such a warm country and there are a lot of free mobile devices charging stations (never seen that before in European airports). Rumour has it that Indonesia is developing one of the largest airports of South East Asia in Medan as the new hub city for its international connections, hence Jakarta Intl. won't be expanded (or renovated) heavily anymore.

This airport is lousy. When you arrive, the immigration signs are not clear enough, then they have the same passport counters for every country, so I as a foreigner had to wait in the same line with 200 Indonesians who had arrived, while if there'd been a queue only for foreigners, I would've been finished in 2 minutes, instead of 25. The layout of the airport is messy - you have to take shuttle buses to other terminals, for domestic flights, there are at least 6 more terminals. But once again, the signs for where you take the bus are non-existent. I had to ask someone how to get to my terminal, they pointed to where the shuttle bus stops, that's the only way to know because hilariously there is no sign there telling you so. Then when you get inside the bus, you have to ask the driver to take you to your terminal, or else he can't be bothered to check where each passenger is going. Once you are departing, whether domestically or internationally, the terminals are very poor in terms of food offerings, often only very poor local food or basic coffee shops. Also, do not get me started on the flight delays, I did not have a single flight in Indonesia depart on time, each one was at least one hour late, some two hours. Once again, most times you won't know unless you ask, because it won't show up on the screen, they just can't be bothered to update it. Conclusion: very messy airport with plenty of incompetent staff.

We were departing on LH783 from Terminal 2 in CGK. If you go there, make sure you have plenty time, as the traffic in Jakarta is unpredictable. Finding the right drop off zone for Lufthansa was complicated, as there are no Lufthansa signs outside and the check in area is not grouped according to global alliances (i.e. Star Alliance). Airport staff were also providing confusing information about finding the right entrance. Anyway, after you have cleared the security check, there are signs and boards with the right information waiting for you. Check-in was OK and the waiting time at the emigration was acceptable. The shopping and eating area is comparably small and only limited choices are available. In general the facilities are outdated and the modernization of CGK is much anticipated.