Jakarta, IO – Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (SHIA) has been named the quickest airport to recover from the impact of the Covie-19 pandemic based on the growth in airline capacity compared to other Asia Pacific airports from 2019 to 2023 by London-based OAG Aviation Worldwide Limited which analysed the flight traffic. SHIA is also named the winner in the Asia-Pacific (ASPAC) Aviation Network Champions in the category “The Most Recovered Airport.”
PT Angkasa Pura II spokesperson Cin Asmoro said this award is also a form of appreciation for all stakeholders thanks to their hard work maintaining flight connectivity of SHIA as Indonesia’s main gateway and the largest airport in the country during the pandemic.
“We understand that Soekarno-Hatta Airport is an anchor for domestic aviation, where aviation is the most efficient transportation in Indonesia, a vast archipelagic nation,” he said, per CNN Indonesia, Thu (7/3).
According to Cin, the award was the fruit of close collaboration of all relevant parties including AP II, airlines’ Covid-19 task forces, AirNav Indonesia, TNI, Polri, Immigration, Customs, Quarantine, ground handling, and full support from the Transport Ministry and SOE Ministry.
“It continues to operate 24 hours every day to serve various types of flights, including pandemic aid and flights to deliver vaccines. We thank all stakeholders, all airport staff for their dedication during the pandemic,” he said.
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The pandemic caused passengers to drop drastically to 20.6 million passengers in 2020, from 54.5 million passengers in 2019. The number declined further in 2021 to 18.8 million passengers.
In 2022, the situations started to improve and several flight routes that had been closed before were reopened. The number of passengers increased to 40.5 million during the year and hit 50.9 million in 2023. The recovery rate has now reached 93 percent compared to pre-pandemic level. (bp)