Air Travel Picking Up Steam Despite Indonesia’s Covid-19 Transition Period

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Air travel indicators from Indonesian airports show a spike in travel activity despite the country's Covid-19 infection caseload rising to 125,000 people as of August 9.

Indonesia’s biggest airport operator PT Angkasa Pura II recorded the number of flights from August 1-6 increased 41 percent from July 1-6 throughout the 19 airports that the company operates mostly in western Indonesia.

“The 19 airports which are operated by PT Angkasa Pura II serve 4,500 flights transporting around 400,000 passengers,” said the company’s President Director Muhammad Awaluddin in a statement August 9.

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The increasing numbers of air travel traffic take place during the ongoing campaign titled “Safe Travel Campaign: Safe Airport for Safe Travel Experience” carried out by PT Angkasa Pura II. The campaign aims to restore passenger confidence in the aviation industry, the statement said.

Awal went on to say that since the Covid-19 pandemic, PT Angkasa Pura II has been following the government’s standard operating procedure for airport management.

“Health screening and all additional health safety procedures must be followed by users of airport services such as passengers and airline operators. All procedures are required in the regulations, so we have to do it consistently,” Awal said.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Indonesia National Air Carrier Association (INACA) Denon Prawiraatmadja expressed hope that the Safe Travel Campaign can quickly restore the public confidence in air transportation.

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He called on all local government units to support the Safe Travel Campaign which was initiated by INACA following the approval by the Ministry of Transportation.

“The efforts of airline companies to increase the number of passengers should also be supported by the local government units. The airports, airlines, and hotels have already followed the health protocols to improve the national economy,” said Denon.

The government began to ease the country’s partial lockdown or known as a large-scale social restrictions in May, including easing transportation restrictions in its efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus and revive the economy.

(Writer: Rully R. Ramli | Editor: Yoga Sukmana)

Source: https://money.kompas.com/read/2020/08/09/100647526/ap-ii-sebut-jumlah-penumpang-pesawat-meningkat-signifikan.