Local and regional newswires are reporting on recent comments made by Bayu Susanto, Secretary-General of the Indonesian National Aviation Association (INACA) who said that Indonesian airlines have expressed optimism passenger figures on domestic routes are on track to get back to pre-pandemic levels by Q1/ 2024, nearly a year faster than previously estimated, assuming “the current trend persists,” write Vietnam Plus.
Statistics Indonesia (BPS) recorded 52.5-million domestic airline passengers last year, equivalent to 68.5-percent of 2019’s figure.
However, there are challenges. According to Bayu, the recovery of domestic routes has to deal with the high interest rate that affects aircraft rental rates, as well as high exchange rates and fuel prices.
He said that the financial situation of airlines had been affected by the pandemic and this effect has persisted until now, hindering the recovery process, say Vietnam Plus.
Higher than expected growth is also being predicted for international flights. INACA believes the market will fully recover by Q3/ 2024.
BPS statistics showed that domestic airlines carried about 1.08-million passengers to and from Indonesia in 2022, much lower than the 1.72 million arrivals in 2019.
The Indonesian government has actively lobbied China to open more direct flights to raise the number of international passengers.
Source: Vietnam Plus