Air Passengers in Indonesia Expected to Exceed 100 Million in 2014
Indonesia's Ministry of Transportation expects the number of air passengers in Indonesia to exceed 100 million in 2014, a 15 percent growth from this year's estimated 90 million air passengers. Air traffic in Southeast Asia's largest economy is growing rapidly. From 2012 to 2013, passenger numbers grew at least 19 percent (from 60 to 90 million), while the total number of flights increased from 566,000 in 2011 to 684,000 in 2012. This robust growth necessitates investments to safeguard comfort and safety in Indonesia's aviation sector.
Besides the increase in foreign visitor arrivals, the growth of total air passengers in Indonesia is particularly supported by the rise in domestic air passengers. Indonesia's rapidly expanding middle class is increasingly using air transportation for traveling across the the numerous islands within the archipelago.
Facilitating infrastructure for Indonesia's aviation industry has not grown at the same pace as the number of air passengers or the general economy. Airports and roads or rail roads toward airports have been operating at overcapacity and thus hindered expansion of Indonesia's aviation industry and jeopardized safety within the industry. Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, located just outside Jakarta, was designed to handle about 22 million passengers per year, but in reality has to cope with over 50 million travelers. Therefore, the Indonesian government has started to focus more on infrastructure development. Throughout the country, a number of airports have recently been renovated - including Soekarno Hatta Airport and Ngurah Rai International Airport on Bali - or have been built from scratch such as the Kuala Namu Airport in North Sumatra.