The airport train is the way into Jakarta on a layover: 39 minutes to BNI City, beside the MRT, every half hour. Taxis and ride-hailing apps share the roads with the city's traffic, which makes them a gamble on the way back.
What's the best way from Jakarta airport into the city?
For most layovers, take the free Skytrain to the airport's railway station and the airport train to BNI City: 39 minutes, Rp85,000, with a train every half hour. The last train back leaves BNI City at 10:07pm. A taxi takes 45 to 90 minutes on our estimate, far longer in the rush hour. Allow about an hour and a quarter from landing to the train, and be at BNI City 3 hours 10 minutes before your flight.
Getting through the border
Before any train, you pass Indonesian immigration and customs. Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (CGK) publishes no queue times, so plan on about an hour and a quarter from landing to sitting on the airport train.
- The visa. With an e-VOA bought online, you go straight to the immigration desk. Without one, you first pay for the visa on arrival, IDR 500,000, at the bank counter in the immigration area (visa and transit rules).
- The arrival card. Have the All Indonesia arrival card done on your phone before you land: its QR code covers immigration and customs.
- Bags. On one ticket, they go through to your next flight. On separate tickets you collect them after immigration and check in again later. No official page lists a left-luggage service, so take into town only what you can carry.
- A slow queue costs you time in town, not your flight: the time you must head back stays the same.
The options at a glance
| Airport train | Taxi | Grab or Gojek | DAMRI bus | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| To | BNI City or Manggarai | Anywhere | Anywhere | Gambir, near Monas, and other city terminals |
| Time | 39 minutes to BNI City, 46 to Manggarai | 45 to 90 minutes, longer in the rush hour (our estimate) | The same as a taxi | The same roads as a taxi |
| Single fare | Rp85,000 | About Rp200,000 to Rp250,000 plus tolls (our estimate) | Shown in the app | Rp80,000 to Gambir |
| Pay with | KA Bandara app or at the station | Meter, in rupiah | The app | Check on the day |
Airport train: the best way in
The airport train, called KA Bandara, is the only way into Jakarta that traffic can’t hold up.
- Finding it. After customs, follow the signs for the Skytrain, the free automated shuttle, and ride it to the airport’s railway station. It runs about every 15 minutes between Terminals 1, 2 and 3 and the station.
- Where it goes. From the airport the train calls at Batu Ceper, Rawa Buaya and Duri, then BNI City, also signed Sudirman Baru, and ends at Manggarai. BNI City is the stop for most layovers: it’s beside Dukuh Atas, where the MRT, the Commuter Line and TransJakarta buses meet. Manggarai is the change for the Commuter Line to the Old Town.
- The ride. 39 minutes to BNI City and 46 to Manggarai, with a train every half hour on weekdays. At weekends the first and last trains of the day run an hour apart.
- Tickets. Rp85,000 to BNI City or Manggarai. Book in the KA Bandara app or on KAI Commuter’s reservation site, or buy at the station, and board with your ticket’s barcode. The app shows the day’s trains and the fare when you book.
- First and last trains. Plan around these, and check your train in the KA Bandara app when you book:
| Every day | |
|---|---|
| First train from the airport | 5:57am |
| Last train back from BNI City | 10:07pm |
| Last train back from Manggarai | 10pm |
These are the same every day. On weekdays the trains run every 30 minutes all day. At weekends there’s an hour between trains at each end of the day: from the airport at 5:57am, 6:57am and then every half hour to 8:57pm, then 9:57pm and 10:57pm; back from BNI City every half hour to 8:07pm, then 9:07pm and 10:07pm. On public holidays, check the day’s trains in the KA Bandara app.
You leave town 3 hours 10 minutes before your flight, so the last train only matters for a flight after about 1am. Missed it? Take a taxi back (below).
From BNI City and Manggarai into town
The airport train stops short of the sights, so every plan ends with a short second ride. These times are our estimates, as no journey planner covers the whole trip.
- To the National Monument (Monas). At BNI City, walk to Dukuh Atas BNI MRT station next door and ride to Bundaran HI, then walk or take a short ride to Merdeka Square. Allow about 40 minutes from the airport train to the monument.
- To Kota Tua, the Old Town. At Manggarai, change to the Commuter Line for Jakarta Kota, the station beside the Old Town. Allow about 45 minutes with the change. The MRT doesn’t reach the Old Town.
- Between the two. TransJakarta’s Corridor 1 buses run from Blok M past the Monas area to Kota: Rp3,500, or Rp2,000 from 5am to 7am, and the main corridors run 24 hours. A Grab or Gojek is the simpler choice if your phone has data.
DAMRI bus: to Gambir, by road
DAMRI’s airport buses run from the airport to Gambir, the railway station a short walk from Monas: every 30 minutes, from 6am to 11pm. Back to the airport, they leave Gambir from 3am to 9pm. The fare is Rp80,000.
The bus uses the toll road, so it’s as slow as a taxi in traffic. It suits the way in on a quiet morning; for the way back, take the train.
Taxis and ride-hailing
- Official taxis. Blue Bird and Silver Bird taxis wait at marked ranks outside arrivals. Use them, not drivers who approach you in the hall. Blue Bird’s meter starts at Rp9,000, then charges Rp6,000 a km for the first 10 km and Rp5,200 a km up to 30 km, with tolls on top. To central Jakarta, that’s about Rp200,000 to Rp250,000 plus tolls on our estimate.
- Grab and Gojek. Both ride-hailing apps pick up at points shown in the app. Set the app up before you fly; it shows the price before you book.
- Time. Nobody publishes a drive time. Allow 45 to 90 minutes to the centre in ordinary traffic, on our estimate, and far longer in the rush hours: on weekday evenings the roads crawl.
- After the last train. A taxi or a ride-hailing car is the way back once the trains stop. Allow about 90 minutes to the airport, our estimate, and book from where you are rather than looking for a taxi in the street.
When a car is worth it. With a group and bags, or for the way back after the last train. On the way in, and above all on the way back in the late afternoon, the train is quicker and far more predictable.
Private transfers
A driver who meets you in arrivals at a fixed price spares you the rank and the meter, but not the traffic. Viator (opens in a new tab) lists airport transfers in Jakarta. It suits a family arriving with bags, or a pickup booked for the way back from a hotel in town.
Terminals and the Skytrain
Use your airline’s terminal; the Skytrain links them. International flights leave from Terminal 3, Garuda Indonesia’s, or Terminal 2, depending on the airline, and airlines do move, so check the terminal on your boarding pass or your airline’s website and head back to that one.
The free Skytrain runs between Terminals 1, 2 and 3 and the railway station about every 15 minutes. Allow about 15 minutes from the train’s platform to your terminal, on our estimate.
Timing your return
Be back at the airport 90 minutes before departure, with your onward boarding pass. With your boarding pass already issued and your bags checked through, that’s time for departure immigration and security before the gate. The airlines’ 3 hours is for checking in: on separate tickets, allow longer.
In practice, be at BNI City station 3 hours 10 minutes before your flight, or Manggarai 3 hours 15 minutes before. That’s cautious on purpose: it allows for a full half-hour wait for the next train, the ride and the Skytrain, and it matches the train operator’s own advice to leave for the airport 3 hours before an international flight.
| Layover | Time in town |
|---|---|
| 8 hours | About 2.5 hours |
| 9 hours | About 3.5 hours |
| 10 hours | About 4.5 hours |
| 12 hours | About 6.5 hours |
These times assume about an hour and a quarter from landing to the airport train, 75 minutes into BNI City with a full wait, 100 minutes back to the terminal (the walk to the platform, the wait, the ride and the Skytrain) and 90 minutes at the airport, as in the itineraries. Plans through Manggarai have about 10 minutes less.