Kuala Namu International Airport (North Sumatra, Indonesia)
In my recent visit to Medan, I was excited not to see the city, but also excited to see the newly built Kuala Namu International Airport.
When I bought the flight ticket to Medan, the airport was still using Polonia Airport which is located in the city of Medan. Then in July, the airline sent me another e-ticket with the new code for the new airport. Since then, I heard or read people’s update status that they were in Kuala Namu International Airport, even some news about how expensive is the train ticket that connected Kuala Namu International Airport with Medan.
The high ceiling in Kuala Namu International Airport (North Sumatra, Indonesia)
I just couldn’t wait to see it with my own eyes!
How good is it? How’s the train that connected the airport with the city?
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When my plane landed safely on the runaway, I was so excited just like a little kid that are going to a toy store. The facade of the terminal has a similar characteristic of the new airport in Indonesia which is using glass from the top to the second floor. There are a few Air Bridge at this airport, but for us, we needed to go down stairs and continue with the bus.
The arrival area is, as always, crowded, especially in the baggage collection area. With a lower ceiling, it seemed the area was packed, but the next area is different. The next area, which is more like a ‘public area’ where the passengers and the people, who pick them up, meet has a very high ceiling. From here, I could see that this airport is another two levels up. The first floor has a few restaurants and snacks shop, but the second floor are mostly still empty. The third floor is for the departure area with Starbucks sign that was easy to spot on (it’s not open yet at the moment).
I’ll talk about the third floor later.
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Now, let’s talk about the train …
The distance from the new Kuala Namu International Airport to the city (Medan) is around 40 km, and there are a few transportation method that we can use. One of them is the new train that connects the train station in Medan straight to Kuala Namu International Airport with no stops. The price looks expensive, but with the long distance and the short travel period (mostly around 37 minutes); I think it’s worth the money.
The ticketing counter in the train station – Medan (North Sumatra, Indonesia)
Everything looks good since I arrived in the train station at Jalan Stasiun Kereta Api, including the ticketing counter area. All looks neat and clean. This train station also connected to a new Lotte Mart with a sky bridge.
From the news, I read that this train is made in Korea, and I am so in love with the train. It’s so comfortable, and clean. One thing that I feel this train should have is a wi-fi connection. Then it will become more perfect! 😉
The luggage storage
The seatings inside the train to Kuala Namu International Airport
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The train station at Kuala Namu International airport is in a different building with the airport, but located next to each other. I just walked out from the train station and head to the departure area on the third floor of the airport.
I like the arrangement of the check-in counter in the departure area on the third floor. It’s similar to the one in Changi Singapore airport, where the area is big and the most important thing is it has plenty of check-in counter! Superb.
Just like the first floor; the third floor of this airport has quite a few of restaurants and retail shops. Not sure what they will put in the second floor, but I think they will use it for retail shops and restaurants too! The more the merrier! 🙂
(Update: I read in this article, that they will use the second floor for hourly rate hotel … So it’s similar like the one in Singapore I guess 🙂 ).
The check-in counters in the departure area of Kuala Namu International Airport (North Sumatra, Indonesia)
The retail shops on the third floor of Kuala Namu International Airport (North Sumatra, Indonesia)
The restaurants on Kuala Namu International Airport (North Sumatra, Indonesia)
While I needed to go three levels up to the departure area, I needed to go three levels down to the waiting room 🙂
The arrival area has a lot of waiting room that can accommodate many domestic and quite a few of international flights. Not too mention that the waiting area is very spacious too!
The waiting room in the departure area of Kuala Namu International Airport (North Sumatra, Indonesia)
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Even though I felt like I was in the ferry terminal just like in Hong Kong or Singapore when I was in the arrival area, but I like what they do in the departure area – check-in counters and also love the train. Overall, I like Kuala Namu International Airport plus the train system. The airport is still under construction in some part, and hopefully it will be much better when the construction is complete.
Let’s keep this new airport and train clean, so our trip become more comfortable 🙂
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For the train schedule and ticket booking. please go to the Airport Railink System website:
Stasiun KA Bandara Medan
Jl. Stasiun No. 1 – Medan
Sumetra Utara, Indonesia
Website: http://www.railink.co.id/
Phone: +62 61 4561331
Twitter: @railinkARS
Original train ticket price: IDR80,000 (per December 2013)
Current promotion for train ticket (per December 2013):
– AirAsia passengers: IDR65,000
– Garuda Indonesia passengers: FREE!
I still remember how packed, small, crowded and stuffy it was when the international airport used to be the Polonia International Airport. Right smack at the city centre with residential areas and only 2-3 luggage pick up area, it was soooo small.
But this is truly an international airport. I haven’t been to the new airport but when I received the news recently, I felt excited too. It is so beautiful! Hopefully it will be well-maintained.
My friend went to Medan few months back but the train wasn’t operational yet. Glad they have train because train is the way it is now.
So, how much the price ticket for the train? And to take the train must go to level 3, am I correct?
Oh u went to Polonia before? Then u should try Kuala Namu soon haha!
Yes the train is on now, and the original price is IDR80,000, but currently there’s a promotion for passengers of AirAsia (only IDR65,000) and Garuda (FREE!).
The train station is not on the third level, but from the ground level of the airport, you just walked out to the next building. 🙂
Wow uber fancy and hi-tech! It doesn’t look like any other airport in Indonesia and I quite fancy that train! Hmm maybe I should go to Medan 😉
Yes the train is very nice! And I think you will love Medan, it has plenty of delicious food! Haha.
Bandara Soeta lewat… bandara Ngurah Rai yang baru mubasir…hahaha…
Asli top banget Kualanamu jadi pingin ngerasain landing di sana 😀
Bandara Ngurah Rai? Haha … Udah jd blm ya Oom?? Blm ke sana2 lagi nih 🙂
Katanya tiket kereta menuju ke bandarannya mahal ya?, kalau lihat dalamnya kereta ya sebandinglah, gpp lah agak mahal, interiornya bagus, bersih pula, bangkunya nyaman kan? 😀 .
Kelihatannya sih mahal ya, tapi dgn kenyamanan, ketepatan, dan kecepatannya, spt nya emang sebanding kok 🙂
Apalagi skrg lagi ada promo tiketnya, bisa didiskon, ato bahkan ada jg yg gratis! 😉
Baru merasakannya pas mendarat 22dec lalu. What a long runway I think ya oom, puanjaaaang banget. Sekarang kalo pulang kampung, bisa berlama-lama dibandara, ga kayak polonia dulu yang kumuh dan ga terawat. Menurutku kuala namu mirip changi atau shuvarnabhumi versi kecil hahaha.. tapi sayangnya, budaya semrawut masih sering terlihat deh. Pekerja-pekerja ‘malas’ (ga customer oriented), banyak karyawan nggangur tapi biarin antrian panjang dll. Koq jadi curcol ya hahahaaha
Semoga kedepan semakin baik diiringi kualitas SDMnya.
Hahaha … karyawan yg mana nih? Saran2nya diterima, semoga ke depannya lbh baik *serasa yg kelola airport aja* 😀
Dulu ga sempet merasakan Polonia soalnya, jd ga bs membandingkan 😀
Biasa yg sukak delay oom yg sudah terkenal ga customer oriented. Pstspstspstspst *bisik2berhadiah*
Hahahaha …
Kemaren AirAsia okeeee kokkkk 😀 *sebut nama* #kode hahaha!
Wuihhh seru yah ternyata bandara baru ini om 🙂 I like it
semoga tahun depan ada kesempatan buat mampir mampir aaaahh
btw train farenya berapa sik?
I think next year you can wait in Starbucks lah … haha and hunt for tumblr Medan edition 😛
The original ticket price is IDR80,000 … Already updated my blog post with current promotion, especially for Garuda Indonesia passengers 😉
jadi ingat pernah nginap di kualanamu ini demi penerbangan jam setengah 6 pagi, eh pesawatnya delay 4 jam lebih
hahahhahaa
oh iya, kmrin pake AA tiketnya dapet diskon 😀
Walah, uda nginep malah delay ya … =.=
Iya kl AA dpt diskon, harganya jd Rp. 65.000,- 🙂
aaaakk, pengen ke Medan! pengen ke Kuala Namu dan naik keretanyaaa…! 😀
Keretanya emang top markotop deh … tp lbh top kl ada wifi nya *teteuppp* hahaha 😀
kereta ke kota nya keliatan Ok banget!
🙂
TWB
Iyaa, oke kann keretanya *serasa yg punya* 😀
tickets are cheap now on Airasia.. might head there next month and this post helped me a lot! thanks a bunch!!
Is it cheaper now?? That’s a great news! 🙂
Hope you enjoy your trip in North Sumatera 🙂
Bandaranya bagus. Sudah bisa disandingkan dengan bandara Changi atau KLIA. Tapi, agak miris justru malah bandara ibukota kita belum sebagus itu. Semoga SHIA bisa menyusul KNO nantinya 🙂
Kalau dibandingkan dengan Prameks atau Sriwedari Ekspres, ya emang jauh lebih mahal sih. Tapi kalau dibandingkan dengan KLIA Ekspres yang harganya 35 RM (sekitar IDR 100,000) dan menurut gue kualitasnya setara, ya harga ARS itu masih cukup masuk akal 🙂
Oh iya, semoga Bandara Kulonprogo Yogyakarta juga bisa segera dibangun tanpa ada lagi demo-demoan 😀
Hahaha iya nih, lagian ARS nya bagus dan bersih kok, cuma ga ada WiFi aja *teteup*
Jogja tuh mestinya bandaranya oke ya, soalnya kan juga salah satu ‘pintu masuk’ dari luar … 🙂
Maaf bertanye mana lagi bagus ya ambik luggage extra di kl atau dia medan nanti bila di kaunter baru bayar?
Hi Zarina …
Sorry, mungkin ada baiknya kamu tanya je ke airline-nya untuk biaya2 baggage 🙂