ASIATODAY.ID, JAKARTA – Soekarno-Hatta International Airport has been designated as the airport with the fastest recovery period from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in the Asia Pacific region according to OAG Aviation Worldwide Limited.
In the Asia Pacific (ASPAC) Aviation Network Champions report quoted on Wednesday, March 6 2024, this airport coded CGK is in first place in the Most Recovered Airport category. OAG assesses airline capacity growth at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport as the best in Asia Pacific in the 2019–2023 range with a minimum number of 36,500 flights per year.
The next position is Kathmandu Airport, Nepal in second place and Dhaka Airport, Bangladesh in third place.
Executive General Manager of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport Dwi Ananda Wicaksana said that flight traffic at Soekarno-Hatta Airport had experienced a drastic decline due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Nevertheless, he said that Soekarno-Hatta Airport has strong operations and is quick to adapt so that it can face the challenges of the pandemic.
“Thanks to the support of all stakeholders, Soekarno-Hatta Airport can maintain and improve flight connectivity,” explained Dwi in his official statement, Wednesday, March 6 2024.
Dwi said that flight traffic dropped drastically in 2020 and 2021 due to the impact of the pandemic, but then thanks to good collaboration between stakeholders, traffic increased again quickly in 2022 and continued into 2023.
In 2019 before the pandemic, the number of passengers at Soekarno-Hatta Airport was recorded at 54.5 million passengers. This number then fell drastically in 2020 when the pandemic hit to 20.6 million passengers and fell again in 2021 to 18.8 million passengers.
When pandemic conditions improve, PT Angkasa Pura II (AP II) as the operator of Soekarno-Hatta Airport together with stakeholders is trying to improve connectivity again by opening new flight routes, reactivating routes that were previously closed and increasing flight frequency on existing routes.
As a result, in 2022 the number of airplane passengers will increase to 40.5 million passengers. Then, in 2023 it will reach 50.9 million passengers or reflect a recovery rate of 93% compared to the pre-pandemic period in 2019.
Meanwhile, PT Angkasa Pura II VP of Corporate Communications Cin Asmoro said this award was also a form of appreciation for all stakeholders at Soekarno-Hatta Airport for their hard efforts in maintaining and strengthening flight connectivity during the pandemic.
He explained, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, AP II and all stakeholders made efforts so that this pandemic did not have much impact on the operations of Soekarno-Hatta Airport, which is the country’s main gateway and the largest airport in Indonesia.
“We understand that Soekarno-Hatta Airport is an anchor for domestic aviation, where aviation is the most efficient transportation in Indonesia, which is an archipelagic country,” he said. (ATN)
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