'Longreach' From Australia, joined Jul 2001, 505 posts, RR: 1 Posted (6 years 11 months 3 weeks 4 days 8 hours ago) and read 3634 times:
I've experienced it all in Indonesia, but this one I thought was worth sharing - Unless its quite normal, then I apologise.
I flew Jakarta - Singapore - Jakarta yesterday, and on the first leg i got the exit row. The aircraft was a 737-500. I was sitting next to the overwing exit, and i was instructed how to open the door (only me by the way, the other two next to me werent instructed.)
The thing is though, my seat as in the cushion, ran half way into the door!! Even if I tried the likely hood of me being able to open the door with the seat blocking it was close to zero. My right hand arm rest was sawn off half way and covered with sticky tape. There was no seat in front of me, however there was a two seat row just in front to the left, making it impossible for anyone to escape. In fact when i got to the seat, two guys were already seated, so I had to walk around the row in front to get to my seat because I couldnt even squeeze past them, and i am a fit build.
From what I could tell they have squeezed the row I was seated in, into what is meant to be the emergency exit row. What do you all think of that?
Is it normal, or should I never step foot on one of their aircraft again? Actually scrap that, I wont be doing it because they were a complete joke. The FA's were wearing what looked like jeans from their personal collections and different soccer shirts!! Kampung women is what I'd call them, not FA's.
Parisien From France, joined Dec 2000, 819 posts, RR: 2 Reply 1, posted (6 years 11 months 3 weeks 4 days 8 hours ago) and read 3612 times:
Gee that does not sound right...isnt there an international standard regarding exits and exit rows ?
Actually I was looking at their website as I am looking for a cheap ticket to SIN or other cities in Asia...their prices are not exactly cheap are they ? I plan to do just a quick round trip so that I will be able to get another VOA to allow for a slightly (total) longer stay than 30 days that you get for each VOA.
'Longreach' From Australia, joined Jul 2001, 505 posts, RR: 1 Reply 2, posted (6 years 11 months 3 weeks 4 days 7 hours ago) and read 3601 times:
Thats what I was doing, extending my visa. I actually went to Smailing tours here and recieved a discount, getting it for $150 including taxes. I think you will find they are one of the cheapest out there, cheaper than Valuair/Jetstar by US$50 on this route. But I would never do it again for a lot of reasons. Pay the extra for at least Valuair.
Is there such a thing as 'experiencing it all in Indonesia.' It's been my experience, both in the airlines and in everyday life, that just when you thought you've hit rock bottom, something else comes along and it turns out you can always go a couple of stories lower.
That being said, Adam Air is a liability and I wouldn't set a foot on any of their diverse 737 fleet. Too many incidents have happened over the past year or so. Many of them have gone unpublished but speak to anyone in the airline industry here and you will be in for a juicy story or two.
Remember, we're talking about the airline that forced a cockpit crew to fly an aircraft from Jakarta to Makassar without a communications system that name worthy. As it turned out, the crew completely lost track of time and place, and they were finally forced to land the aircraft because of dwindling fuel reserved at what is lightly called a secondary airport in here, but is actually not more than a sophisticated grassfield in Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara province, some 2,000 kilometers off the flight's destination.
As said, many more incidents have gone unnoticed, and it is clear that this airline, together with a couple of others in Indonesia, is desperately trying to keep its costs down in order to stay competitive in its tariffs. One day, it'll turn out that they have cut one corner too many.
'Longreach' From Australia, joined Jul 2001, 505 posts, RR: 1 Reply 4, posted (6 years 11 months 3 weeks 3 days 9 hours ago) and read 3402 times:
Yeah I apologise, there is no such thing as 'experiencing it all in Indonesia'!!!! It will always find a way to surprise you.
How do you think they will treat their 30 A320's when they arrive? When do they arrive by the way? I had no idea their reputation was so bad, I really should have known before hand!!!
HB-IWC From Greece, joined Sep 2000, 4416 posts, RR: 75 Reply 5, posted (6 years 11 months 3 weeks 3 days 9 hours ago) and read 3390 times:
Quoting 'Longreach' (Reply 4): How do you think they will treat their 30 A320's when they arrive?
Let's not get ahead of ourselves and patiently wait whether they will ever take delivery of any A320s, let alone 20 of them. Words are cheap in Indonesia. Even paper is cheap. The same remark goes for Lion Air and its supposedly 60-strong B739ER order... I, for one, am not holding my breath.
HAWK21M From India, joined Jan 2001, 31228 posts, RR: 58 Reply 6, posted (6 years 11 months 3 weeks 3 days 9 hours ago) and read 3390 times:
The Emergency Exit path should be clear for Emergency Evacuation.The B735 E.E. are Plug doors,so they need to be pulled inboard from Inside the Aircraft.
Surprisingly if the Regulatory rules are not Adhered to.
regds
MEL
HB-IWC From Greece, joined Sep 2000, 4416 posts, RR: 75 Reply 7, posted (6 years 11 months 3 weeks 3 days 9 hours ago) and read 3376 times:
Quoting HAWK21M (Reply 6): Surprisingly if the Regulatory rules are not Adhered to.
Not really an issue in Indonesia. One just hands over a sufficiently stuffed brown enveloppe to the person/organization in charge of supervising that particular issue and the problem is solved.
Hi, no, I am in Paris now. But I will be going there for holidays in a few weeks. And since I am planning to do many islands this time, I need just a few more days more than what you get with VOA !
I am leaning towards Kuala Lumpur now though, rather than SIN for the hop outside to get a new VOA. Many times I hear stories how cheap CGK SIN routes is as well as the variety of airlines flying it, but does not seem to be the case any more (at least not when you do it via the web) ?
from paris to jakarta, I am flying EK.
HB-IWC From Greece, joined Sep 2000, 4416 posts, RR: 75 Reply 9, posted (6 years 11 months 3 weeks 3 days 8 hours ago) and read 3357 times:
Quoting Parisien (Reply 8): Many times I hear stories how cheap CGK SIN routes is as well as the variety of airlines flying it, but does not seem to be the case any more (at least not when you do it via the web) ?
Lufthansa has a local fare of USD 80 for CGK-SIN return. KLM has USD 94 for CGK-KUL return. You could also check Emirates and Qatar for SIN and KUL fares, and then there is PR, but that leaves CGK at an ungodly morning hour.
Parisien From France, joined Dec 2000, 819 posts, RR: 2 Reply 11, posted (6 years 11 months 3 weeks 3 days 6 hours ago) and read 3306 times:
ok, thanks guys...
unfortunately from the web here I can only get the cheap KL fare. Qatar and MH are both upwards 300 euros !
Do they really check if your return date falls within the time limit of VOA at immigration? If not, I can buy the ticket once arrived in Indonesie. If yes, I will have to buy the intra asia ticket in Paris and show that I guess. I have written emails to several travel agents in Indonesia but no response lol !
Still, really cool to think you're flying airlines like LH, EK and Qater from Indonesia to SIN or KUL !! I wish we could do that a lot more in europe, flying asian airlines within europe.
Yes, Kuala lumpur sounds interesting. And I have the impression that hotels are definitely cheaper in KL than in Singapore.
Debonair From Germany, joined Jan 2004, 2112 posts, RR: 4 Reply 12, posted (6 years 11 months 3 weeks 3 days 6 hours ago) and read 3290 times:
Quote: There was no seat in front of me, however there was a two seat row just in front to the left, making it impossible for anyone to escape. In fact when i got to the seat, two guys were already seated, so I had to walk around the row in front to get to my seat because I couldnt even squeeze past them, and i am a fit build.
This is very normal on B737, check also- unfortunately not the best picture...
You can clearly see, the seat-pitch is like "normal" and the 3rd seat in front missing:
Quote: The thing is though, my seat as in the cushion, ran half way into the door!! Even if I tried the likely hood of me being able to open the door with the seat blocking it was close to zero.
How does this kind of set up affect the evacuation times of the aircraft?
I could barely fit past the two guys seated, what if they were dead and slumped over and I had to get out?
Just check out the picture... It is the same situation! and this picture was taken on board of German's Lufthansa. Also many or most B737-500/400 have this seating-configuration!
Don't ask the "if" question... Everything is to internationl regulation! Thats why it is so important, that only a special group of people is sitting there (only "fit" passangers).
But back to your question, the space is very helpful to place a dead body on the floor...
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From Australia, joined Jul 2001, 505 posts, 
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