TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsPrabowo pushes for more international airports to spur growth
Last year, ahead of President Prabowo’s inauguration, the government revoked the international status of 17 airports to eliminate underperforming ones and improve the struggling post-pandemic aviation sector.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Homecoming: President Prabowo Subianto disembarks from the presidential airplane upon arriving on July 16 at the Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base in Jakarta. (Antara/Galih Pradipta )
P
resident Prabowo Subianto is aiming to establish more international airports across the archipelago to stimulate local economies and support the tourism sector.
During a limited ministerial meeting on Friday, he emphasized the urgency of accelerating air transportation development to improve interregional connectivity.
“The President is pushing for the opening of as many international airports as possible in various regions,” Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya said of the directive in a statement.
The Transportation Ministry had previously announced plans to redesignate three airports in Indonesia as international airports. These include Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II Airport in Palembang, South Sumatra and H.A.S. Hanandjoeddin Airport in Bangka Belitung, as well as General Ahmad Yani Airport in Semarang, Central Java.
Transportation Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said in May that these airports had lost their international status due to a drastic decline in air traffic during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, given the recent recovery in air traffic and the government's broader push to improve national connectivity, he deemed the change necessary.
Dudy emphasized that the move aimed to bolster local economies, strengthen the tourism sector and accommodate religious travel, such as haj and umrah (minor haj) pilgrimages.
However, he noted that not all previously downgraded airports would regain international status, as some only serve occasional international flights and do not show significant traffic growth.
