Both are in the midst of expansion and projects. Other airports with international links – albeit limited – include Balikpapan, Medan, Surabaya, Lombok and Manado.
Multiple international airlines service Indonesia.
AirAsia (
www.airasia.com) Serves a wide range of Indonesian destinations from Australia, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Singapore.
Asiana (flyasiana.com) Serves Bali and Jakarta from Seoul.
Firefly (
www.fireflyz.com.my) Serves major cities on Sumatra from Kuala Lumpur and Penang in Malaysia.
Garuda Indonesia (
www.garuda-indonesia.com) Indonesia's main national airline serves Bali and Jakarta from Australia, Asia and Amsterdam.
KLM (
www.klm.com) Serves Jakarta and Bali from Amsterdam via Singapore.
Lion Air (
www.lionair.co.id) Rapidly expanding carrier with services across Indonesia and the region. Wings Air is its regional subsidiary.
Malaysia Airlines (
www.mas.com.my) Serves Bali and Jakarta from Kuala Lumpur.
Silk Air (
www.silkair.com) Serves numerous Indonesian destinations from Singapore including Bandung, Balikpapan, Lombok, Manado, Medan, Palembang, Pekanbaru, Surabaya and Yogyakarta.
Thai Airways International (
www.thaiair.com) Serves Bali and Jakarta from Bangkok.
Tiger Airways (
www.tigerairways.com) Budget carrier serving Bali, Jakarta and Surabaya from Australia and Singapore.
Check websites to get an idea of airfares to Indonesia. Don't limit yourself to major sites either; search for 'Indonesian airfares' and you may well find sites belonging to small travel agents who specialise in Indonesian travel. This can be particularly helpful when you are trying to book a complex itinerary to remote locations.
Asia Indonesia is closely linked to most of Asia. A plethora of airlines serves Bali and Jakarta.
Australia Australia is well served with numerous direct flights to Bali and Jakarta from all major cities on multiple carriers.
Canada From Canada you'll change planes at an Asian hub for Bali and Jakarta.
Continental Europe KLM and Lufthansa link Amsterdam and Frankfurt respectively with one-stop, same-plane service to Jakarta (and Bali for KLM). But a huge number of airlines such as Emirates, Qatar Airways and major Asian carriers, offer one-stop connections between major European cities and Jakarta, and often Bali as well.
New Zealand You can fly non-stop to Bali and Jakarta.
UK Options to fly to Jakarta and Bali from London (or Manchester) involve connecting through a major hub somewhere in the Middle East or Asia.
USA The best connections are through any of the major Asian hubs with nonstop service to Bali and Jakarta, although residents of the East Coast may find shorter routings via Europe or the Middle East. No US airline serves Indonesia.
The departure tax at Indonesian airports is now almost always included in the price of the ticket.
There's no way around it: Indonesia's airlines do not have a good safety record. From 2014 to 2015 more than 350 people died in a string of aviation disasters. Flying conditions are often challenging (monsoons, volcanic eruptions etc), safety standards can be lax and the airlines themselves run in a less-than-professional manner especially as some expand very rapidly outpacing efforts to instill a safety culture.
Should you be worried? The odds of a fatal flight in Indonesia are very small, even if they are higher than elsewhere. When possible, pick a major airline over a smaller one and in really remote locations, feel free to do your own inspection of the plane and crew before you fly.
Border Crossing
There are four possible land crossings into Indonesia.
Regular buses between Pontianak (Kalimantan) and Kuching (Sarawak, eastern Malaysia) pass through the border post at Entikong. You can get a visa on arrival on this route. A crossing is possible between Lubok Antu, Sarawak and Badau, West Kalimantan provided you have a visa in advance.
The border crossing between West and East Timor (Timor-Leste) is open. Get a Timor-Leste visa in
Kupang; a visa is required when travelling from East to West Timor.
The road from Jayapura or Sentani in Indonesia to Vanimo in Papua New Guinea can be crossed, depending on the current political situation. A visa is required if travelling into Indonesia
Go to Indonesia by Sea Way
Let's go to across the sea!
There is currently no sea travel between the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.
Australia
Major cruise lines often run cruise ships between Bali and Australia.
Timor-Leste
There are regular ferry services between Dili in Timor-Leste and Oecussi (including a new fast ferry), which borders West Timor. If crossing into Indonesia from here you will need to have organised your visa already in Dili.
Malaysia
Regular and comfortable high-speed ferries run the two-hour journey between Melaka (Malaysia) and Dumai (Sumatra). Similar ferries travel between Penang (Malaysia) and Belawan (Sumatra), taking about five hours.
From Johor Bahru in southern Malaysia, daily ferries run to Pulau Bintan in Sumatra's Riau Islands. Ferries connect Tarakan and Nunukan in East Kalimantan with Tawau in Sabah. For these routes you'll need a visa in advance.
Singapore
From Batam speedboats travel to Tanjung Buton with minibus connections to Pekanbaru on the Sumatran mainland. Otherwise, Pelni ships pass through Batam to and from Belawan (the port for Medan) and Jakarta.
Boats also travel between Pulau Bintan and Singapore. Service includes Bintan Resort Ferries (
www.brf.com.sg).
