Thanks to collaboration, Soetta wins the title of the busiest airport in ASEAN and APAC
This article has been translated by PwC Indonesia as part of our Indonesia Infrastructure News Service. PwC Indonesia has not checked the accuracy of, and accepts no responsibility for the content.
Investor Daily - Berkat kolaborasi, Soetta raih gelar bandara tersibuk di ASEAN dan Aspas
24 July 2023
By: Tri Murti
Jakarta - Soekarno-Hatta (Soetta) Airport successfully achieved the title of the busiest airport in ASEAN and the third busiest airport in Asia Pacific (APAC). PT Angkasa Pura/AP II (Persero) President Director Muhammad Awaluddin said that the success of the airport that is managed by AP II was thanks to the hard work and collaboration among stakeholders.
“Last year, the aviation sector faced the pandemic challenge, but they already entered the recovery period. During the period, AP II and all stakeholders continued to strengthen domestic and international flight connectivity to significantly contribute to economic growth and pandemic handling,” Awaluddin said in his official statement in Jakarta on Friday (21/7/2023).
Moreover, on 19 July 2023, Airport Council International (ACI) released the list of the busiest airports in 2022 that consists of 2,600 airports, including Soetta Airport. ACI logged that the number of passenger movements in Soetta Airport in December 2022 reached 39.60 million people. Last year, ACI logged that the number of aircraft passengers in the world reached 6.6 billion.
Furthermore, according to Awaluddin, all stakeholders have tightly collaborated with full support from the State-owned Enterprises (SOE) Ministry and the Transportation Ministry. The effort successfully strengthened flight connectivity by reactivating routes closed during the pandemic, increasing flight frequency on existing routes, and opening new routes.
“This mutual effort brought Soekarno-Hatta Airport to be the busiest airport in ASEAN and the third busiest airport in Asia Pacific,” Awaluddin added.
Awaluddin also said that AP II was thankful to all parties that supported the flight traffic recovery in Soetta Airport.
“Thank you to all parties for their continuous cooperation and collaboration so that Soekarno-Hatta Airport can operate every day for 24 hours to serve all flights from regular flights, flights to handle the pandemic, and flights to support global events in Indonesia,” Awaluddin said.
AP II Director of Operation Wendo Asrul Rose said that the success of Soetta Airport was thanks to the operational plan that has been implemented by all parties. He continued that the rapid domestic flight growth last year significantly contributed to activities in Soetta Airport.
“AP II, airlines, ground-handling, and other stakeholders can implement the operation plan excellently, so we can accommodate the existing demand,” Wendo said.
The readiness of the infrastructures as well as the air side and land side facilities is also vital in ensuring the smoothness of flights. AP II Engineering Director Agus Wialdi added that the maintenance of infrastructures and facilities in the air side and in the land side, especially regarding security and safety, would always be prioritised.
“Any tolerance will not be allowed for the priority infrastructures and facilities,” he affirmed.
Not only as the busiest airport, in 2022, Soetta Airport was ranked at number 9 by Skytrax in the list of the 2022 Best Airport Staff in Asia, which increased by one rank from its position in 2021 at number 10.
Furthermore, AP II Commercial and Service Director M. Rizal Pahlevi said that the increase in flight traffic must be followed by excellent services.
“We are thankful that, amid the increase in flight traffic in Soekarno-Hatta Airport, aircraft passengers are also appreciating the staff at the airport that have been doing their job excellently,” Rizal Pahlevi said.
Meanwhile, Soetta Airport Executive General Manager Dwi Ananda said that Soetta Airport operation was also supported by digital infrastructures, such as Airport Operation Control Centre (AOCC), Airport Infrastructure Control Centre (AICC), and Land Transport Operation Centre (LTOC).
“The existing digital infrastructures significantly support the collaboration among stakeholders amid the growth of flight traffic during the recovery period,” Dwi Ananda said.
Moreover, this year, AP II is targeting the number of passengers in 20 of their airports to cumulatively reach 76.65 million people. Most of the passenger movements are predicted to occur in Soetta Airport.
Garuda
Meanwhile, the national airline Garuda Indonesia is activating several international routes closed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We are still going to previously established destinations, such as Guangzhou in China that was recently opened, Shanghai in Hong Kong that does not have a routine flight yet, and Beijing that also does not have a routine flight. We must profit if we fly,” he stated.
He explained that the routes were activated after observing the growing demand following the relaxation of public activity restrictions in several countries after the Covid-19 pandemic.
He also logged that the average monthly passenger growth on domestic routes and international routes reached 600 people, which drastically increased outside of Hajj flights that reached around 100 thousand people. The achievement is higher compared to the Covid-19 pandemic period that only reached around 30 thousand people per month.
“Despite the positive change, the current achievement still has not surpassed the realisation before the Covid-19 pandemic when the monthly average reached around one million people,” Ade explained.
