Citilink

Citilink is Garuda Indonesia's low-cost arm, flying from Jakarta across the archipelago in green livery with a simple promise: the national carrier's network reach at budget fares. The route map is domestic at heart, trunk routes between Java's big cities plus island connections, with a modest regional international spread.

The fleet mirrors the mission. A320s, both ceo and neo, fly the jet routes in a single economy cabin, and ATR 72 turboprops feed the smaller fields that jets cannot serve economically. There is no business cabin on any published layout, so seat selection is the whole game, and the airline makes it an unusually easy one to play: its two A320 generations are fitted identically, down to the row numbers.

The A320 and A320neo share one layout: the same three-by-three cabin, the same pair of over-wing exit rows and the same marked legroom positions at the exits and just behind them. Advice moves between the two generations without translation, and the neo adds quieter engines to the identical seat. Both jets skip row 13 in the numbering.

The ATR 72-600 is the feeder, a two-by-two turboprop cabin with no middle seats and a front row facing the bulkhead with unusually deep legroom. Its seats are lettered consecutively across the row, which makes the map read exactly as the cabin sits.

The jets deliver a standard low-cost single-aisle experience: slim seats, paid catering and a cabin built to turn around fast. Exit rows carry the legroom and pin the recline; the marked row behind them takes similar space with the recline free. The first row adds bulkhead knee room but loses floor storage and keeps its tray in the armrest.

The turboprop is a different rhythm: lower, slower, louder around the wing and boarded from the apron. Its two-by-two cabin means a full flight cannot hand you a middle seat, and its bulkhead row has more space to the wall than most jets give an exit row. For short island hops it does the job with less fuss than its size suggests.

Pick the marked legroom row behind the exits first; it is the one place on the jet where extra space and full recline coexist. The exit rows themselves suit passengers who skip the recline anyway, and a window pair a row further back sits mismatched against the window spacing, worth knowing if the view is the point. Because the ceo and neo share a single layout, a seat that worked on one sits in the same place on the other.

On the ATR, the bulkhead row is the prize for legroom and the rear rows are closest to the door, which on most ATR operations is at the back, so the choice is stretch at the front against a quick exit at the rear. The propellers turn level with the forward part of the cabin; sensitive ears do better behind the wing than beside it.