Angkasa Pura

These are 5 strong signals of flight awakening at AP II Airport

Jakarta - Air traffic at PT Angkasa Pura II airports continues to gradually recover in line with the controlled situation of the COVID-19 pandemic.

AP II noted that the condition of the aviation sector this year was better than March - December 2020 and January - December 2021.

AP II President Director Muhammad Awaluddin said flight traffic in 2022 has been increasing continuously since the beginning of the year.

"The number of passenger movements at AP II airports in the first quarter of 2022 cumulatively averaged around 4 million passengers/month or much higher than the average quarter I/2021 of around 2.3 million passengers/month. In the second quarter of 2022, the number of passengers again increased significantly to an average of 5.3 million passengers/month, one of which was driven by the Lebaran Transport which was successfully organized by AP II.”

“The signal indicating flight recovery is getting stronger in the third quarter of 2022, and will continue until the fourth quarter of 2022. We see that there are at least 5 signals that indicate that flight recovery at AP II airport this year is on the right track, "said Muhammad Awaluddin.

Here are the 5 signals:

1. Soekarno-Hatta Airport will be the busiest airport in ASEAN in September 2022
The Official Airline Guide (OAG), a UK-based global aviation data provider, reported that Soekarno-Hatta Airport in September 2022 became the busiest airport in ASEAN with a flight seat capacity of 2.96 million seats, followed by Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, with 2.09 million seats and Changi Airport in Singapore with 2.08 million seats.

The Jakarta - Denpasar route with a flight seat capacity of 600,248 seats is ranked 9th in the list of Top 10 busiest domestic routes in the world in September 2022.

"The recovery of flight traffic at Soekarno-Hatta Airport is quite significant, and we have anticipated an increase in flights to ensure smooth operations. The routes that had been closed are gradually starting to operate again. The recovery rate (recovery rate) for flights at Soekarno-Hatta Airport has reached 80%, which means that current traffic has reached 80% from 2019 when the pandemic did not yet exist, "said Muhammad Awaluddin.

2. The number of passengers increased significantly
In the January - August 2022 period, the cumulative number of passengers at 20 AP II airports reached 38.84 million passengers, or already exceeded the realization of 2021 (31.55 million passengers) and 2020 (35.86 million passengers).

"The number of passengers for 8 months in 2022 has exceeded the realization of the number of passengers for 12 months in 2020 and 2021. This is certainly a strong signal for flight recovery at AP II airports," said Muhammad Awaluddin.

3. Slot time utilization has increased significantly
Slot time is the time allocation for flight scheduling given by the airport to the airline. Each AP II airport has different time slot allocations, depending on the operational pattern and operating hours of each airport.

In 2021, the cumulative utilization of slot time at 20 AP II airports is around 30% of the total available slot plans. Conditions reversed in January - June 2022, where the utilization of slot time increased to almost touch 50%.

"Slot time is a production tool owned by the airport, and AP II will ensure the availability of slot times for airlines that will reopen flight routes that were closed due to the pandemic. We are optimistic that the utilization of slot time by the end of this year can reach 70-80%," said Muhammad Awaluddin.

4. Opening of international routes
AP II airports, except Soekarno-Hatta Airport, did not serve international routes in the midst of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

This year, in line with the continued improvement in handling the pandemic, a number of airports were allowed to return to serving international routes. AP II airports which this year will resume serving international flights include Kualanamu Airport (Deli Serdang) to Malaysia and Singapore, and Sultan Syarif Kasim II Airport (Pekanbaru) to Malaysia.

"At the end of this year entering the peak season period following the Christmas and New Year holidays in 2023, it is likely that domestic and international flights will increase again," said Muhammad Awaluddin.

5. Pefindo revised the outlook for AP II from negative to stable
As of September 8, 2022, PT Pemeringkat Efek Indonesia (Pefindo), which is a securities rating agency, affirmed the idAA+ rating for AP II and revised the outlook for the rating to stable from negative. This is in line with the increase in flight traffic at airports managed by AP II.