JAKARTA - Angkasa Pura Airports coordinates closely with airlines and cargo companies to ensure logistics to operate smoothly during the period of Ramadan exodus restriction and COVID-19 pandemic. This is indicated by requests for extra flights to carry logistics by aircrafts used to carry passengers.
There are at least nine airports managed by Angkasa Pura Airports that accept extra flights to transport logistics: I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali, Sultan Aji Muhammad Sulaiman (SAMS) Sepinggan International Airport in Balikpapan, Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport in Makassar, Sentani International Airport in Jayapura, Juanda International Airport in Surabaya, General Ahmad Yani International Airport in Semarang, El Tari International Airport in Kupang, Syamsudin Noor International Airport in Banjarmasin, and Sam Ratulangi International Airport in Manado.
"Angkasa Pura Airports fully supports airlines who converts their aircrafts that normally carry passengers to carry logistics or cargo through priority arrangements with other cargo companies based on the arrival time of goods at the airport’s cargo terminal. This transfer will facilitate cargo operation which saw delayed delivery because many extended flights were cancelled due to the lack of passengers which were insufficient to fill the quota to fly," said Angkasa Pura Airports president director Faik Fahmi.
Faik added that Angkasa Pura Airports also coordinated intensively with the airlines so that air transport connectivity for logistics in the central and eastern regions of Indonesia is well maintained amid the pandemic, especially during the period of Ramadan exodus ban.
The total cargo flights at nine airports operated by Angkasa Pura Airports on April 25-28, 2020 were 409 flights (204 arrivals and 205 departures) with a total cargo of 2,315,627 kg. Three main airports with the highest cargo traffic in this period are as follow:
1. Sentani International Airport with 243 flights (121 arrivals and 122 departures) and cargo of 1,124,142 kg,
2. Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport with 62 flights (33 arrivals and 29 departures) and cargo of 432,380 kg,
3. I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport with 17 flights (8 arrivals and 9 departures) and cargo of 204,284 kg.
The trend for extra flights to transport logistics earlier occurred at Sentani International Airport as Papua Governor implement policy to close access to people coming by sea and air transports on March 26, hence flights to and from the airport only serve cargo.
The trend of extra flights then continued at SAMS Sepinggan International Airport starting April 10, 2020 and continued nearly every day with two flights (arrival and departure) until April 28. Airlines who requested extra flights at the SAMS Sepinggan Airport are Garuda Indonesia, Citilink, Lion Air and Sriwijaya Air with destinations from Jakarta (CGK), Makassar and Palu.
Meanwhile at Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport, there were 62 flights (33 arrivals and 29 departures) and cargo of 432,380 kg since April 25. Cargo flights are carried out by Garuda Indonesia, Wings Air, Citilink, Lion Air, Sriwijaya Air, My Indo Airlines, Trigana Air, Cardig Air to Timika, Jakarta (CGK), Ambon, Babo (West Papua), Jakarta (HLP), Balikpapan, Surabaya, Sorong, Sentani, Soroako (South Sulawesi), and Kendari.
For information, cargo at 14 airports operated by Angkasa Pura Airports in 2019 reached 427,135,421 kg.
