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The departure and arrival gates may have a quirky architectural charm, but Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport has seen better days. Besides an outdated air-traffic control radar system, which failed last month, and a recent power outage that disrupted many national and international flights, the airport is also increasingly rundown, crowded and frustrating to negotiate.

For those passengers with the right amount of cash to spare, however, there is now an alternative: a haven of tranquility that promises to soothe away the pain of passport control and make those snaking queues vanish.

It comes in the shape of the exotically named d’Consulate Lounge, where for a fee of Rp 325,000 ($35) anyone can enjoy a relatively pain-free check-in, perks such as armchair comfort, a massage, buffet and a Wi-Fi connection.

“Just leave your travel documents and baggage with our receptionist,” said Zulu Ginting, the lounge’s manager. “Proceed to the lounge, where you can get a free reflexology massage and enjoy our set-up of buffet food and drinks.”

The lounge is part of the Saphire program, a service that principally offers instant immigration clearance for members, and costs Rp 2.5 million a year. Saphire was developed by the company Angkasa Pura Schiphol, a joint venture of Angkasa Pura II, the state-owned company that manages Soekarno-Hatta Airport, and  the Schiphol Group, which operates Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.

The initiative’s eye-openingly ambitious aim is to change Soekarno-Hatta Airport into a world-class “AirportCity” — an efficiently designed international transport hub that exudes the atmosphere of a global city where work and recreation meet.

The lounge, which opened on Aug. 24, is  thus far the only one in the airport’s public area to provide international passengers with luxury facilities and service. Members of the Saphire program may use the lounge and check-in service for free.

Angkasa Pura Schiphol’s data showed that 10 percent of passengers were frequent fliers and more well-off than the average traveler, said Edyana Paramitasari, the company’s president director. “For them, traveling is both a need and a lifestyle. Hopefully, the facilities in the lounge can meet the needs and expectations of these passengers.”

The 500-square-meter lounge is split into two levels. The departure lounge, on level 2, includes a reception, business center, reflexology massage parlor, a lounge area and a bar. The arrival lounge, on level 1, has a bar, a smoking room, a restroom and shower area, and two meeting rooms. Guests of both lounges can use the meeting rooms for 30 minutes at no extra charge.

Lounge staff members, in collaboration with Gapura Angkasa, one of the airport’s ground-service providers, complete the entire check-in process for departing passengers, including baggage handling, seating arrangement and the airport and exit tax payment. “The whole process only takes 10 minutes to complete,” Zulu said.

Passengers who are arriving in Jakarta can use the arrival part of the lounge after passing through immigration. They pay
Rp 250,000, while  arriving Saphire members pay Rp 150,000.

The lounge was developed in collaboration with d’Consulate Group, a Middle-East based company that operates restaurants and lounges in numerous countries. “We’ve built it as an integrated service lounge that combines services and facilities of a five-star executive club — VIP treatment at the airport and an exclusive business lounge,” said David Awuy, a representative of the group.

“The airport is more than a quarter of a century old,” said Tri S. Sunoko, president director of Angkasa Pura II. “Many of its facilities are outdated and do not meet the current standards of an airport city.”

The 18-square-kilometer airport has exceeded its original capacity of 18 million passengers per year. Today, it processes
37 million passengers every year.

The airport, designed by French architect Paul Andreu — who also designed Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris — was built in 1980. It started operating domestic flights in 1984, replacing Kemayoran Airport in Central Jakarta and Halim Perdana Kusuma Airport in East Jakarta.

“It no longer meets the demands of today’s passenger, while it’s an airport that should accommodate all of their pre- and post-flight needs,” Tri said. “With an average growth of 10 percent per year, the number of passengers may reach up to 50 million [per year] by 2015.”

The Saphire lounge may be happy to lighten the wallets of passengers willing to pay for the comfort and convenience on offer, but it was also intended to help ease the over-crowding, its Edyana claimed.  “The idea for the lounge came up when we were thinking about solving the capacity problems that are currently faced by Angkasa Pura II,” she said.

While the arrival lounge currently only functions as a place for guests to refresh themselves and enjoy food and drink, there are already plans to develop its services.

“In the near future, we’ll meet and greet the passengers on the airplane and escort them directly to the lounge, without going through all the hassles of immigration and baggage handling,” Zulu said, adding that the lounge is currently only open from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m., but is intended soon to be open 24 hours a day.

With the continuing increase in the number of passengers flying in and out of the airport, Angkasa Pura II has also devised plans to improve the airport’s facilities for all passengers.

“In the long term, we plan to renovate and change the layout of the terminals, add more immigration counters and further develop terminal 3,” Tri said.

“In the short term, we plan to redistribute flight schedules, move the overnight parking to terminal 3 [for domestic flights] and optimize the existing facilities for the passengers,” he added.

“Eventually, we will have to expand the airport, especially as we’re nearing the enactment of the Asean open skies policy in 2015,” Tri said.

“In the meanwhile the lounge is a good effort to optimize the existing facilities of the airport.”


Saphire d’Consulate Lounge

Soekarno-Hatta International Airport
Terminal 2 D, E
Level 1 (arrival lounge)
Level 2 (departure lounge)

Tel: 021 5591 3529/30