Flying to Komodo - Wings / Lion Air

[choiahoy]

Hey SB,

I'll be diving in Komodo in September and was trying to book a flight when I noticed that several of the airlines have a 10 KG weight restriction.

We'll need to be in Bali in the late morning and from what I'm seeing on Nusatrip.com, we need to book a flight on Wings / Lion Air. The problem is there seems to be a 10KG limit--obviously a problem with dive gear.

Has anyone flown recently with gear on Wings? I'm assuming (hoping) that we can go over, but we'll just have to pay. Is that the case?

Thanks in advance.

 

[choiahoy]

Just found a few threads that answered my question above.

But I'm curious, has anyone had to deal with the hassle of a cancelled flight with Lion?

 

[dirtfarmer]

You probably don't need to worry about a cancelled flight from LBJ to Bali. And a Morning flight close to ontime.
On my last trip I flew from Jakarta to LBJ via Bali and my leg from Jakarta was a bit delayed and I had a quick on and back thru security and made my Bali to LBJ. I was figuring for sure my luggage wasn't going to make it and it did! There will be luggage fees for the overage.

 

[mattia_v]

We flew Wings into Flores last month with no big issues in terms of luggage, although we were forced to stop in LBJ rather than fly through to Ende because the airport there closes at 17:00, apparently, and we were delayed. Put us up in a very nice hotel and flew out on time the very next morning though. So no complaints on that count. I would try to have a bit of buffer for flight arrival/catching a dive boat, though. Lruggage fees were more or less a dollar per kilo, if I recall correctly. The thing to check whether the Garuda flight is still more expensive when you factor in their 20 kg allowance per passenger; momondo and skyscanner were both good search engines for price comparison. There are also a lot of flights between DPS and LBJ, so that generally shouldn't be an issue.

 

[Cali_diver]

Our flight was cancelled when the volcano erupted and another was almost turned around due to high winds. Other than that no problems.

 

[Adelaar Cruises]

It may give you a little peace of mind if you check with an app, such as flight stats, the night before to see if the flight made it to it's final destination (Ende). This way you'll have an idea if it has a chance of leaving on time the morning of your flight. If not, then you can possibly prepare for a late connection in Bali. If so, check again in the morning and see if it's scheduled to arrive in Bajo on time.

Enjoy Komodo, just had a whale shark encounter at Shotgun (aka Cauldron, Washing Machine)!

 

[Joelage]

I've flown from Bali to LBJ/Flores using WINGS/LION air

In terms of checking in the over-limit luggage, as you have probably found out, it is quite easy to sort out once you are there. They will weigh your bags (make sure they write the correct weight on the papers) then you will need to go pay for it at another counter. Once paid, you need to complete the check-in (sometimes you have to line up all over again, or sometimes you are able to jump the line) - perhaps allow time for this.

The flight, on the other hand, was a bit of a circus...
As the boarding time got close, it was officially 'delayed' for an hour. The new boarding time came... then passed with no details.. then there was a sudden change of departure gate with a "final boarding call" where everyone madly rushed.

Once on the plane, we sat there for 45minutes (no air-conditioning), then was told to disembark and return to the departure terminal, where we were not told of any details regarding the next departure time (if at all), except that the flight was 'cancelled'. (We were quite worried as we had organised a taxi/boat to pick us up at an assigned time) and were only going to be at Komodo for a few days.

Besides getting some help from a friendly local who let us use her phone to make some calls, and an attempt to book another flight using Garuda (quite expensive, and the internet was poor), the wings staff brought some local foods and drinks for those who were hungry (which was kind of nice..)

We eventually boarded the same plane and took off, where we arrived a few hours after our intended arrival. The taxi/boat were patiently waiting for us, and we missed a check-out dive...

Upon reflection, and from other research, Wings/Lion Air seem to regularly miss their take-off windows, so essentially we just had to wait for the next opportunity. I assume it meant bumping the next flight to the later window, and so on... (This is probably why they have been 'black-listed')

So as per advice from @mattia_v I'd recommend booking the earlier flights, so that if things didn't goto plan, you will be put on following flight. Perhaps even avoid arriving on the same day as the boat departure.

In comparison, the return trip was fine. This is probably due to there being less flights out of LBJ, and the next take-off window comes sooner if they are running late.

 

[billt4sf]

Indonesia is the country which has the worst safety air record of any country in the world.

Lion Air is a budget airline with a low safety record. They are not approved to fly in Europe, for example.

Personally, I would not choose to fly a budget airline in a developing country with a poor safety record.

But you might. Most people have no safety problems, and yes, it is likely more dangerous to drive to the airport than fly on Lion Air. It is a risk I choose not to take, however.

- Bill

 

[KenGordon]

I just got back from Komodo. We had 60kg (so 40 excess) of luggage between two of us and it cost about 600,000 Rp each way. That is about $40. On the way out we had to checkin, get given a bill, go to another desk to pay it then return to the checkin desk to collect our boarding cards. However there were very short queues so it didn't take long. I had to pay with cash due to some issue. On the return it was all done at the check in desk.

We really enjoyed the trip. Have fun.

 

[mattia_v]

Regarding the fact the airlines don't have authorization to fly in the EU, this applies to every single Indonesian airline except Garuda; I'm guessing this is, in part, because it costs money for certification that's completely irrelevant to an airline that has no ambition to commence intercontinental flights. I can't comment to the actual safety record (although actual air crashes are, insofar as I was able to determine, very rare to absent for most carriers).