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Soekarno-Hatta Airport to facilitate ‘no-destination’ flights amid economic downturn

News Desk (The Jakarta Post)

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Wed, September 30, 2020 Published on Sep. 29, 2020 Published on 2020-09-29T22:22:50+07:00

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On the rise: Passengers are seen at Terminal 3 of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, on Friday. The airport recorded 350-400 flights per day in July, up from 243 flights per day in the preceding month.

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oekarno-Hatta International Airport is set to accommodate no-destination flights as many airlines seek to recoup some of the major losses suffered as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Soekarno-Hatta executive general manager Agus Haryadi said the airport would be ready to facilitate airlines that planned to offer “flights to nowhere”.

“We will certainly support [the initiative]. At the very least, this program can inspire the public to fly again,” Agus said on Monday as quoted by kompas.com.

However, as of the time of writing, no airlines operating from the airport were offering no-destination flights, he added.

A no-destination flight – the type of flight that departs from and arrives at the point of origin – is not a novel concept in the aviation industry, according to him. The program is typically reserved for non-commercial purposes, such as test flights for new types of aircraft, he said.

Agus added that the notion of flying for the sake of it was expected to appeal to those who missed the flying experience following months of stringent travel restrictions.

“I think flying with no specific destination during the pandemic is a good idea to warm up the plane engine,” he said.