Coronavirus, Batik Air Reduces Flight to Thailand

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Batik Air has recently reduced the frequency of its trips to Thailand as an anticipative measure due to the coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak which currently has plagued 25 countries.

"We reduce it from daily to three times a week," said Batik Air CEO Ahmad Lutfi at Terminal 1A of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Tangerang, Thursday, February 6, 2020.

The carrier management is looking for ways to reduce potential losses caused by this matter. It plans to divert some of the flights that previously served the Thai route to domestic routes that are crowded with passengers.

In addition to reducing flights to Thailand, Batik Air has also previously closed flights to all cities in China, following the circular issued by the Transportation Ministry regarding the prevention of the spread of the coronavirus. "We originally have routes to five cities in China. All of them are currently closed," Lutfi said. 

Batik Air will soon aim for best-selling routes to fill empty flight slots, otherwise, it will bear the loss. "We'll probably add domestic frequencies to profitable flight routes such as Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan," he said.

Batik Air itself last week became the airline appointed by the Indonesian government to pick up 245 Indonesian citizens from Wuhan, China to Hang Nadim Airport, Batam. After carrying out their duties, the aircraft was immediately sterilized to prevent any possible spread of the coronavirus.