Arrivals:
Getting in is very simple since the airport is tiny. To get into the city, I’d recommend taking a taxi. I guess you could take the train but unless your hotel/hostel/airbnb is directly off the rail, I don’t see it being worth it. As soon as you get off the plane and walk into baggage claim, you’ll see a row of booths set up all asking if you need a taxi to your hotel. For me, it cost 60K rupiahs (which is somewhere around $4 USD). They’ll give you a flat rate and pay there. Then follow the blue signs where you’ll see other people waiting for a taxi. I’m not sure how the line works, but as soon as the guy saw that I had already paid and showed him my receipt, the next taxi that drove up was mine.
Departures:
For now, this small airport only has two international departures to KL and Singapore. My understanding is that they are building a new airport to handle more traffic since the current airport is also used as a military base.
I’d recommend flying out to KL or Singapore to transit vs. CGK. For most of us, it’ll be easier to transit via Singapore and more than likely a better experience considering how massive and nice Changi airport is. Another good thing is that since the airport is so small, you really only need to give yourself about an hour to get through security. To be honest, if you have bags to check, it’ll take more time to make it through that line than through security.
Immigration is done in a separate area just for international departures. Considering there was only 1 international departure, it really took just minutes to go through.
There are no jetways here so it’s an old school walk across the tarmac to a set of stairs type of experience. It can be a little warm depending on the time of year but that hardly seems like a negative.
Overall, I’d recommend flying directly to KL or Singapore if you can. It seemed much easier than transiting through Jakarta and although the airport lacks the amenities found in Jakarta, I loved that I got there an hour before my flight and made more than enough time.