I arrive at the check-in counter at Lombok International Airport on Wednesday the 3rd of February and, as with my flight out of Australia twelve months earlier, what I’m being told is not what I want to hear.
“I’m sorry sir, that flight has been cancelled.”
My stomach starts to knot as the attendant continues.
“We can get you onto a Jakarta flight at 4.30pm.”
It’s a two hour flight to Jakarta which will get me in at 6.30pm. I then need to get to the international terminal for a 7pm flight to Singapore.
But there’s a one hour time difference between Lombok and Jakarta.
“What time will it land in Jakarta?” I ask.
5.30pm sir.
Our conversation is in Indonesian and with my heart racing as it is, I’m struggling to make sense of the numbers.
But it’s all good. I was originally scheduled to land at 1.30pm but 5.30pm should still give me enough time to collect my luggage and make my way to the international terminal for the flight to Singapore.
I’m effectively cooling my heels for four hours in Lombok rather than in Jakarta.
I consider calling Dewi and returning to the guesthouse but it’s 30 minutes each way and will be an imposition on Ian who will have to make the trip twice and will already be already be half way back to Mataram.
I find a place to have lunch and after sanitising the booth space I have selected, prepare to settle in for the afternoon.
I message Dewi before ordering a flavoursome beef soup, known as Rawon, followed by a couple of coffees.
It’s a long, dull wait and after a couple hours twiddling my thumbs in the restaurant I’m feeling restless. I decide to take a stroll around the terminal and to see if I can buy a book to read on the flight but everything is closed so I’m done in about 5 minutes.
The departure gate is upstairs but the waiting room is full so I return to the waiting area downstairs and look for some space to sit.
An hour and a half to go.
Finally my flight is called and we’re ready to board. The plane is 20 minutes late to depart but we touch down in Jakarta right on time.
The international departure hall at Soekarna-Hatta Airport in Jakarta is empty and I’m through customs and immigration and moving towards the departure gate inside 10 minutes.
Pandemic travel definitely has its perks but at the same time it all feels so soulless.
I order a burger and a Bintang at a cafe next to the departure gate and wait for my flight to be called.
The Singapore Airlines flight is flying at 10 percent capacity but the plane has extra leg room, free movies and full food and beverage service included in the ticket price. I order curry Laksa and a glass of white wine and resolve to fly Singapore Airlines again the next time I travel.
People management in the transit area at Changi Airport is a textbook example in calm and professional efficiency with numerous people on hand to ensure arriving passengers queue at a safe distance and have all the relevant paperwork ready to present to the waiting attendants. I’m no sooner through the check in process than there is someone waiting to escort me to the transit hotel.
Once I’m in my room I message Dewi to let her know I’ve arrived. I order a couple of outrageously over-priced small cans of beer and once consumed, as it now close to midnight, I get ready for a good night’s sleep.