REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — Entering the new year 2024, PT Angkasa Pura (AP) II airports together with the airline directly opened new flight routes, several are international. The newly opened route is a direct flight route.

“Since the beginning of the year, AP II airports have opened new routes. We hope this will further facilitate people's air travel either for tourism or business travel,” said AP II SVP of Corporate Secretary Deni Krisnowibowo in a written statement on Monday (22/1/2024).

This is also an attempt by AP II to continue to maintain the momentum of aviation traffic growth after being hit by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020-2022. He made sure, the opening of the route takes into account the potential and the existing demand.

Based on data as of January 21, 2024, Deni Krisnowibowo said that in January-February 2024, there is an AP II limabandara that opens new flight routes.

“AP II collaborates with airlines and ground handling and fully supports the Ministry of state-owned enterprises, the Ministry of Transport and InJourney Holding in opening new routes,” said Deni Krisnowibowo.

The first airport to have a new route is Kualanamu Airport with Qatar Airways to open the Medan-Doha (Qatar) flight route from January 15, 2024. The route is operated by Qatar Airways three times a week using Boeing 787 wide-body aircraft, also known as Dreamliner.

Kualanamu Airport itself is managed by PT Angkasa Pura Aviasi (AVI) which is part of AP II.

AVI Operations Director Heriyanto Wibowo said the opening of the Medan-Doha route and vice versa strengthened Kualanamu Airport's efforts to become a hub airport.

“Airline passengers or tourists from Doha can travel in North Sumatra as well as other tourist destinations in Indonesia through Kualanamu Airport,” Heriyanto said.

Then the second airport is Radin Inten Airport II which opens Lampung-Denpasar connectivity. The flight will be served by Indonesian airline AirAsia from January 17, 2024 with a weekly frequency.

Executive General Manager of Radin Inten II Airport Untung Basuki said the new route connects two tourist destinations in Indonesia that are already famous for their beautiful beaches.

“We hope that the route between these two tourist destinations, namely Lampung-Denpasar, will also further excite national tourism,” said Untung Basuki.

Then the third airport is Soekarno-Hatta Airport which opened a new flight route namely Jakarta-Kota Kinabalu (Malaysia) on February 6, 2024 by Indonesia AirAsia. Then also the route Jakarta-Nanning (China) by Sichuan Airlines in January or February 2024.

Executive General Manager of Soekarno-Hatta Airport Dwi Ananda said the opening of the two new routes would further drive the recovery of international aviation traffic.

“As the busiest airport in Indonesia, Soekarno-Hatta Airport strives to continuously increase its contribution in accelerating the growth of tourism and the national economy through aviation connectivity,” Dwi said.

Then the fourth airport is Minangkabau Airport, which opened the Padang-Surabaya route by Lion Air from January 18, 2024. Then Super Air Jet opened the Padang-Medan flight route from January 24, 2024.

“We hope that the opening of these routes will further facilitate air travel for the people of West Sumatra, as well as for people who want to go to Sumbar,” said EGM Minangkabau Indrawansyah Airport.

As a result, the fifth airport, Sultan Syarif Kasim II Airport, together with Lion Air, opened the Pekanbaru to Surabaya flight route from January 13, 2024. EGM Bandara Sultan Syarif Kasim II Radityo Ari Purwoko said the Pekanbaru - Surabaya route is a route that has previously been closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The Pekanbaru — Surabaya route was re-activated in January 2024, indicating that the recovery of aviation traffic at Sultan Syarif Kasim II Airport is well underway,” Radityo explained.