"We compared current flights and 2019. It showed that domestic flights have achieved a recovery rate of 71 percent. This is a pretty good number, even at Soekarno Hatta Airport it has reached 90 percent," he said after attending a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Monday.
Meanwhile, overseas flight recovery in 2022 stood at 33 percent, the minister added. He said that the rate of recovery in air traffic has shown good progress. Therefore, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has asked him to develop and improve domestic and foreign flights.
"We note that all airports have actually recovered at the same number of connectivity or movements as in 2019," he highlighted.
According to the minister, the connectivity of several airports, including Soekarno Hatta Airport, Tangerang, and Ngurah Rai Airport, has reached pre-pandemic levels. However, improvements are still needed for airports that have not reached the maximum level of connectivity, such as Juanda Airport in Surabaya and Kualanamu Airport in Deli Serdang.
"Surabaya and Kualanamu (airports) have not reached their maximum capacity yet. The movement per hour is 29 out of 34 for Juanda and 29 out of 31 for Kualanamu. We will pay attention to this capacity considering there are so many requests for domestic and foreign flights," Sumadi said.
The government will carry out several measures, such as carefully adding flight slots and making capacity adjustments at a number of airports, he added.
The government will also improve the quality of flight services for Umrah travelers, including by improving the waiting room (lounge) for Umrah pilgrims.
"We started yesterday by providing a lounge for Umrah pilgrims and their families who accompany them," he added.
In addition, the government has tasked state-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura I with coordinating with the Indonesian Navy to develop airport facilities in Surabaya.
"We will improve Juanda Airport and assign PT Angkasa Pura I to carry out improvements together with the Indonesian Navy," he disclosed.
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Translator: Indra Arief P, Resinta S
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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