Qantas A330 Business Class Review (Melbourne-Jakarta)

Qantas recently launched a new, non-stop route from Melbourne to Jakarta. Supplementing its existing daily Sydney-Jakarta service, this increases the number of weekly Qantas flights to Jakarta to ten.

Numbered QF39 (and QF40 on the return leg), the new Qantas service from Melbourne to Jakarta operates 3x weekly using Airbus A330-200s. There are 27 lie-flat Business Class seats and 224 Economy seats.

“Jakarta is becoming an increasingly important destination for our corporate travellers. These direct flights offer more choice and make it even easier for them to do business with one of Australia’s closest neighbours,” Qantas Domestic and International CEO Andrew David said.

“The route is also a great opportunity for more Indonesians to explore the best of Victoria or visit family and friends, with the flights launching in time for the Lebaran holiday period,” David added.

So, what can business travellers expect when flying with Qantas to Jakarta? I found out by booking a Business Class ticket on the inaugural flight from Melbourne to Jakarta!

Flight Details

Flight number	QF39
Origin	Melbourne (MEL)
Destination	Jakarta (CGK)
Aircraft type	Airbus A330-200
Class of travel	Business
Seat number	3A
On-time performance	We arrived 75 minutes late
Star rating

The route

Flight Cost

I redeemed Qantas Frequent Flyer points to book a Classic Flight Reward seat on the inaugural flight from Melbourne to Jakarta. To my amazement, there was a Business Class reward seat available just a couple of weeks out from departure. This cost me 57,000 Qantas points and $195 in taxes & carrier charges.

To be clear, although this was the inaugural flight, I did not receive a media freebie from Qantas. I booked this ticket using my own points.

Airport Experience

There was no queue in the Qantas priority check-in line at Melbourne’s international terminal. The friendly check-in agent asked to see my vaccination certificate (still a requirement for travel to Indonesia), and checked that I’d downloaded the Satusehat App and completed the electronic customs declaration for Indonesia. They also asked if I had a visa or was planning to apply for one on arrival.

This only took a few minutes, and I was soon on my way through security with my boarding pass and an Express Path card in hand.

Due to my Qantas Platinum status, I was able to use the Qantas First Lounge in Melbourne. I was warmly welcomed to the lounge and even offered a complimentary spa treatment, since it was quiet in the lounge and there happened to be an appointment available.

While the First Lounge was excellent, Qantas normally sends its Business Class passengers in Melbourne to the Qantas international Business Lounge. Therefore, I’ll incorporate the Business Lounge experience into my “airport experience” rating for this review.

I popped into the international Business Lounge briefly. It’s pleasant, but unfortunately just isn’t in the same league as the First Lounge.

Due to its location below the ground level, there’s no natural light in the Business Lounge and it can feel a bit dark in there. There was a selection of buffet food available including Thai red curry with rice, sandwiches and salads. Barista coffee, beers, wines and spirits were also available, although the one drink I actually wanted – soda water – was out of stock.

While it’s still a peaceful place to wait for your flight, the international Business Lounge will benefit greatly from the renovation planned for later this year.

Boarding was delayed while engineers completed some work on the plane. Eventually, boarding was called in the lounge and I headed over to the gate. There was a priority and a general boarding queue, but the priority signage was not observed at all.

There were no particular festivities at the boarding gate for this inaugural flight. But when checking in, the display screen above the check-in counters said “QF39 Welcome Jakarta”. On board, the crew also mentioned that it was the inaugural flight and all passengers were handed a special souvenir bag when disembarking in Jakarta.

The Hard Product

Qantas has a great Business Class product on its Airbus A330s. Business Class is laid out in a staggered 1-2-1 configuration, with direct aisle access available to every passenger and a reasonable amount of privacy. All Qantas A330 Business seats recline to become a fully lie-flat bed.

As this was an internationally-configured aircraft, the seat was covered in cloth (rather than leather on the domestic-configured aircraft) and there were two toilets available in the Business cabin.

Whether sitting, lounging or sleeping, I found the seat very comfortable. The mattress cover provided also adds some extra padding (and helps to keep the seat clean).

There are various small storage spaces around the seat. There was also plenty of space available in the overhead lockers.

Although this aircraft didn’t have any wifi available, there was a large in-flight entertainment TV screen. The in-flight entertainment was fine, with a good selection of movies, TV shows and games. I would love it though if Qantas would bring some music back onto its IFE program!

The Soft Product

When Qantas gets it right, they really do get it right – and this was one of those flights. All of the flight attendants seemed genuinely happy to be on board the inaugural Melbourne-Jakarta flight and were keen to ensure everyone had a great experience.

After taking my seat, I was immediately offered a cold glass of champagne. Before take-off, the Customer Service Manager also welcomed me on board with a personalised card.

Upon boarding, there was already a pillow, blanket, mattress cover, water bottle, menu and amenity kit at my seat. The amenity kit contained all the usual suspects including socks, an eye mask, earplugs, hand cream, face cream, lip balm, a toothbrush and toothpaste. Premium headphones were also provided, although I prefer to use my own Bose QC35 noise-cancelling headphones.

Qantas doesn’t offer pyjamas on daytime flights from Australia to Asia, but they are provided on the overnight return leg from Asia back to Australia.

Qantas recently made some improvements to its catering on international flights, and it showed. I really enjoyed the food served on board. This was the Business Class menu on QF39:

And this was the drinks menu:

The meal service began after take-off with an “aperitivo” – a tasty arancini ball served with Qantas’ signature “Sky Spritz” cocktail.

For the starter, I opted for the potato and leek soup. This came with focaccia and sourdough bread, along with a somewhat sad bowl of leaves.

The cabin crew were feeling generous and happened to have some spare food on board, so let me try a second starter. The Korean fried chicken with pickled radish – served on flights to Indonesia instead of the pork dumplings you’d find on flights to most other Asian destinations – was an absolute winner. The chicken was slightly crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside, covered in a sticky, sweet sauce, and was seriously delicious!

The main course – I chose the seared snapper with black bean sauce – was also very tasty (and pleasingly spicy).

The dark chocolate cream with hazelnut cake, poached pear and caramel – paired with a dessert wine or Baileys from the trolley, if you feel like it – was the perfect way to end a great meal.

As the meal service was wrapping up, we were flying over the south Australian coastline and had some great views of the sunset ahead of us.

After lunch, I watched a movie and had a short nap. As I woke up – already over four hours into the flight – we were just passing the west Australian coastline near Port Hedland. (It just goes to show how huge the Australian continent is!)

Around 90 minutes before landing, we were offered a choice of a quiche or wheat noodles with chicken for supper. The noodles were quite adequate as the flight was too short to necessitate a full second meal service, although I felt the dish could have used a bit more flavour. I would have happily added some more chilli to this if it was provided on the side.