Indonesian low-budget airline Lion Air targets to see a 15 percent year-on-year (y/y) increase in air passengers to 38.25 million in 2017, from 33.26 million passengers that were carried by the airline in the preceding year. Daniel Putut, Director for Business Development at the Lion Air Group, said the airline will need to achieve this target without expanding its fleet size, which currently numbers 113 units. Lion Air, founded by Rusdi Kirana, is one of the biggest airlines of Indonesia, dominating the low-budget segment.

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Indonesian low-cost carrier Sriwijaya Air targets to fly 12.1 million passengers in 2017, up 10 percent year-on-year (y/y) from an estimated 11.2 million passengers in 2016. To achieve this target 17 new airplanes will be delivered to the airline next year consisting of 15 narrow body Boeing B737-800NG jets and two wide body Boeing 777-300ER jets. Chandra Lie, President Director of Sriwijaya Air, is confident that the airline will achieve next year's passenger target, specifically by increasing its focus on international passengers.

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Sriwijaya Air, the third-largest airline in Indonesia, plans to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in March 2017 in which it will release 25% of its total outstanding capital stock. Chandra Lie, President and CEO of Sriwijaya, said its IPO plan started after the company posted net profit in three consecutive years. Through the IPO the company will become more transparent and obtains fresh funds to purchase 15 narrow body and 2 wide body airplanes, while also increasing the number of flight routes.

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The Lion Air Group, owned by Rusdi Kirana, remains the dominating force in Indonesia's airline industry. With its three units (Lion Air, Batik Air, and Wings Air) the group carried 20.5 million air passengers in the first half of 2016, controlling 48.4 percent of the market in the first half of 2016, followed by the Garuda Indonesia Group, and the Sriwijaya Air Group. Edward Sirait, President Director of the Lion Air Group, said the group's market share has grown 5 percent over the past year. This is remarkable considering that the global and domestic economy remained somewhat bleak.

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Passenger capacity at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Indonesia's busiest airport located just outside Jakarta, is targeted to reach 61 million (per year) by the end of 2017, up 84 percent from a passenger capacity of 33 million passengers currently. Passenger capacity at the airport will rise strongly after the full completion of construction of Terminal 3 as well as the renovations at Terminals 1 and 2. Although Terminal 3 opened in August 2016 construction will continue into 2017 when full passenger capacity (25 million per year) is expected to be reached.

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On Tuesday (09/08), Terminal 3 of the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, located just outside Indonesia's capital city of Jakarta, becomes operational. This IDR 7.7 trillion (approx. USD $588 million) terminal is designed to have the capacity to handle some 25 million passengers per year. In the first phase of the terminal's operations, national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia will use it for its domestic flights (about 126 per day). Gradually, Garuda will serve international flights from this terminal, followed by international flights of other airlines.

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The Indonesia National Air Carriers Association (INACA) expects the number of air passengers in Indonesia to grow 15 percent (y/y) in full-year 2016, roughly the same as growth realization one year earlier. In the first five months of 2016 there were a total of 37.38 million air passengers - both domestic and international flights - in Indonesia, up 16 percent (y/y) from the number of air passengers in the same period last year. INACA added that the Idul Fitri holiday period will not be able to boost total passengers significantly due to limited slot times.

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Low-cost airline Indonesia AirAsia plans to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in late-2017. This IPO plan has been agreed upon by the management and shareholders of the company. AirAsia Chief Executive Officer Tony Fernandes said there are two main reasons why Indonesia AirAsia would like to become a listed company: (1) to improve transparency and corporate management, and (2) to allow Indonesian investors to join in on Indonesia AirAsia's profit and business growth.

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State-owned airport services company Angkasa Pura II that operates the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport located just outside Indonesia's capital city of Jakarta, says construction of the airport's third terminal is nearing completion. Angkasa Pura II is optimistic that the IDR 5.7 trillion (approx. USD $432 million) terminal will be ready for operations on 26 May 2016. Budi Karya Sumadi, General Director of Angkasa Pura II, said this terminal - called Terminal 3 Ultimate - will be used for international and domestic flights of Garuda Indonesia (which currently uses Terminal 2).

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Through the implementation of Presidential Regulation No.12/2016, Indonesia confirmed its participation in the ASEAN Open Sky policy (also known as the ASEAN Single Aviation Market). This policy comprises the multilateral agreement of all ten ASEAN member countries to unite their skies into one single aviation market (hence liberalizing regulations to a large degree). By enhancing connectivity (implying an easier flow of people and cargo) the ASEAN member nations target to boost the region’s economic growth. ASEAN is home to more than 600 million people.

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Governments’ social and business restrictions (imposed in the context of preventing the further spread of COVID-19 in society) and people’s concern over the virus have damaged both the tourism and transportation industry in an unprecedented way.

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The other day, I had a conversation with my neighbors – a married couple who run a bakery and café in the city center of Yogyakarta. From previous conversations I knew that their business is heavily affected by the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Even up to the point that they had to find a cheaper school for their oldest daughter.

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On 28 August 2020 Indonesian President Joko Widodo officially opened Yogyakarta International Airport (YIA), a brand new airport that is located in Kulon Progo in the Special Region of Yogyakarta; a region known as one of Indonesia’s main tourism centers. Many in fact call Yogyakarta the ‘heart and soul of Indonesia’.

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Across the world, concern over the COVID-19 pandemic grew in September 2020 as the number of new COVID-19 cases continued to rise rapidly. Worldwide, at the end of September 2020, some 34 million people have been infected with the virus, while more than one million people have died after contracting the virus.

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Investigators reported their preliminary findings in the investigation into the causes of the fatal crash of Lion Air flight JT-610 to Indonesian parliament on Wednesday 28 November 2018. These preliminary findings should not be confused with conclusions. Therefore, it is too early to pinpoint a definitive cause (or causes) of the accident that occurred in the early morning of 29 October 2018 and killed all 189 people on board (including crew).

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Indonesia's air transport industry is about to see a big change as the nation's national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia said it will take over operational control of the rival Sriwijaya Group. This move seriously boosts the Garuda Group's share of the fast-growing domestic aviation market.

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When 189 people – consisting of passengers and flight crew - boarded Lion Air flight 610 in the early morning of Monday 29 October 2018, no-one expected that it would be their last flight. After all, the Lion Air plane - a Boeing 737 MAX 8 powered by two CFM International LEAP engines - was a brand new airplane that had been delivered to Lion Air on 13 August 2018 and had only been operated by the Indonesian low-cost airline since 15 August 2018. In the two and-a-half months it had been in service the aircraft had flown about 800 hours.

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The tourism industry of Indonesia is one of the most important industries in terms of the nation's foreign exchange earnings. However, compared to its neighboring countries - specifically Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand - Indonesia lags behind in terms of foreign visitor arrivals. This "failure" is partly attributed to the weak state of Indonesia's infrastructure. This includes the lack of enough airports or the lack of enough aircraft and passenger handling capacity at existing airports.

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In 2017 Indonesia's Transportation Ministry allowed the opening of 83 new flight routes (commercial civil flights), consisting of 58 domestic routes and 25 international routes. There are two reasons why the government encourages the opening of new routes: (1) to make the remote areas of Indonesia less isolated, and (2) to strengthen inter & intra regional transportation.

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Indonesia's flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, a state-controlled five-star airline that is listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange, requested to postpone the arrival of new airplanes in an attempt to improve the company's corporate earnings. Pahala M. Mansury, General Director of Garuda Indonesia, said the order (the number of airplanes) has not been revised, neither has the company's fleet plan (that runs to 2020) been changed. Only the timing of arrival of five planes has been altered.

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