Illustrative image (Photo: Wikimedia) Jakarta (VNA) - Indonesian airlineshave expressed optimism that passenger figures on domestic routes are on trackto get back to the pre-pandemic level in the first quarter of 2024, nearly ayear faster than previously estimated.
Indonesian National Aviation Association (INACA)secretary-general Bayu Susanto said the complete recovery of the domesticaviation industry, initially expected for late 2024, was now projected to takeplace as early as the first quarter of next year, assuming “the current trendpersists”.
International Air Transport Association (IATA)estimates released on December 6 see the Asia Pacific (APAC) airline industryreaching the 2019 level in 2024.
Statistics Indonesia (BPS) recorded 52.5 million domestic airline passengerslast year, equivalent to 68.5% of 2019’s figure. According to Bayu, challengesto the recovery of domestic routes are high interest rate that affects aircraftrental rates, as well as high exchange rates and fuel prices.
He said that the financial situation of airlines had been affectedby the pandemic and this effect has persisted until now, hindering the recoveryprocess.
Indonesian airlines also predict that growth on internationalroutes will be faster than the previous estimate. INACA believes the marketwill fully recover in the third quarter of 2024.
For international flights, BPS statistics showed that domesticairlines 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 moredirect flights to raise the number of passengers.
AirAsia Indonesia CEOVeranita Yosephine said that 2023 is "an exciting time" for theairline with plans to increase its fleet to 32 aircraft and reach pre-pandemiclevels by the end of this year./.
