TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - State airport operator Angkasa Pura II (Persero) recorderd a 13 percent decline in air traffic during the Christmas and New Year week after the Transportation Ministry issued a ban on extra flights during the holidays. The ban put to ground over 3,000 units of aircraft from mid-December to early 2022.

From December 17 to January 3, only 21,853 aircraft served in 20 Angkasa Pura-run airports, down from the previous year when 25,240 were operating.

"This is because airlines cut down the number of planes in operation, and made aircraft replacements that focus on optimizing the use of wide-body jets. There are matters relating to the extra flight ban as well," Angkasa Pura II president director, Muhammad Awaluddin, said on Tuesday , January 4.

The Transportation Ministry prohibits airlines from taking additional slots for extra flights during the year-end holidays to prevent massive public movements that may lead to Covid-19 outbreaks.

Despite the absence of extra flights, Awaluddin noted a 92-percent increase in fleet utilization due to a growth in air transportation demand. While air traffic declined, passengers' traffic rose by 15 percent throughout the season.

According to Awaluddin, the number of domestic and international airline passengers reached 2.34 million, an increase from last year's 2.28 million.

Read: Air Passenger Numbers in AP I Airports Jump by 47.2% as Govt Relaxes PPKM

FRANCISCA CHRISTY ROSANA