REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- State owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura (AP) I said the number of arrivals and departures recorded by all of its airports grew 21.7 percent in the first quarter of this year compared with the same period last year.

AP I has 13 airports in the central and eastern parts of the country.

The 13 airports recorded 19.6 million arrivals and departures in the January-March period in 2016 , up from 16.1 million in the same period last year, corporate secretary of PT AP I Farid Indra Nugraha said here on Friday.

Farid said all of the 13 airports recorded an increase in number of passengers, adding the highest growth of 50.3 percent was recorded by the Adi Soemarmo airport of Solo, followed by the El Tari airport of Kupang rising 45.7 percent and the Lombok International Airport 43.6 percent and the Sam Ratulangi airport of Manado 26.3 percent.

He said an increase of 12 percent was recorded in the number of flights served by the 13 airport.

"In the first quarter of 2016, there were 181,000 flights , up from 161,000 flights," he said.

There were a number of factors contributing to the increase such as improved economic condition and a number of investment programs launched by AP I, which began to show result, he said.

New routes served and flights including hajj pilgrimage flights also contributed significantly to the increase in number of flights and passengers, he said.

He said from December 2015 until April 2016, there were 12 new routes including routes for hajj pilgrimage flights served by Lion Air between Banjarmasin to Jedda and Medina.

On May 3, Garuda Indonesia also plans to serve hajj pilgrimage flights from Solo to Jedda.

Increase was also recorded in the flight frequency by some airlines early this year, he said, adding, at least there are four additional flights to and from airports of AP I.

"Lion Air has increased frequency in flights in the routes of Balikpapan-Makasar, Manado-Makasar and Bandung-Surabaya. Sriwijaya Air increased flights betweren Surabaya and Berau," he said.

Farid said one strategy adopted by Angkasa Pura I to increase the number of passengers and new routes is by organizing Collaborative Destination Development (CDD), a group discussion between airport operators,airlines, travel agents, regional administrations to boost tourism in the regions.

The tourism sector is expected to be able to increase growth of the number of incoming abnd outgoing passengers, which would benefit airports, he said.

Starting December last year to January, 2016 , CDD had been held in four cities -- Manado, Solo, Lombok, and Kupang.

The result was shown with the four cities recording the highest growth of air traffic, he said.

Currently, economic growth is shifting to eastern Indonesia giving the possibility of cooperation to open new routes in the region.

Angkasa Pura I would continue to seek cooperation to open new routes to follow the economic trend, he added.

Ikuti Whatsapp Channel Republika