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Airlines look to bright future but high costs stand in their way
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A Pertamina truck carrying BioAvtur J2.4 is parked beside a CN 235-220 plane during a fuel test in Bandung, West Java, on Sept. 6, 2021. (Courtesy of Pertamina)
I
ndonesian airlines are enjoying a rebound in demand this year thanks to the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, but analysts say high costs complicate their recovery and could even derail it.
Carriers counted 24.6 million passengers on domestic flights in the first half of this year, up more than 57 percent from the same period last year, but still below numbers recorded before the coronavirus pandemic.
Two newcomers to the scheduled flights segment, Pelita Air and Super Air Jet, entered the domestic market over the past year and are planning fast expansion to seize the moment.
Pelita Air, a subsidiary of state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina that used to provide charter flights, wants to operate eight aircraft by the end of this year and then add 10 more annually for the next five years, while Super Air Jet aims to operate 61 aircraft by the end of this year, roughly double its current fleet.
National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, meanwhile, plans to operate 70 aircraft next year, double the existing number it is left with after recently entering a debt-restructuring process, but still far below the 140 units it had before the pandemic.
“We are an archipelagic country, and our economy has been growing by more than 5 percent recently, which will automatically increase demand for air travel,” Rusdi Kirana, owner of the country’s largest private airline operator, Lion Air Group, told The Jakarta Post on Monday after attending the first anniversary of Super Air Jet, which he also founded.
“I am very sure there will be significant growth this year. That is the benefit of having a strong domestic market,” he added.
