Minister Budi Karya to Increase Aircraft's Capacity to 85% on Conditions

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Transportation Ministry planned to immediately loosen the passenger capacity limit of aircraft which was set at 70 percent to 85 percent. Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said that along with the Covid-19 mitigation task force, he would evaluate the maximum capacity of air transport.

“The maximum capacity limit will be increased when the Covid-19 vaccination is available and the public gets the injection. Thus, it can only be implemented after the first semester of 2021 or the second quarter of 2021, depending on the speed of the vaccine distribution,” Budi told Bisnis on Thursday, November 26, 2020.

Additionally, the government would begin to relax travel requirements using air transport during the pandemic if the virus transmission decreases due to the availability of the Covid-19 vaccine, Budi informed.

“People who have been vaccinated proven with the vaccine letter can fly without having to meet other requirements [including a rapid test or PCR test],” he explained.

In order to increase the public trust, Budi said the Transportation Ministry keeps promoting travel safety using air transport. According to him, aircraft are equipped with HEPA filters so the cabin air is recirculated every 2-3 minutes.

Based on the Transportation Ministerial Circular No. 13/2020 concerning the operation of air transportation in times of Covid-19, wide-body aircraft are allowed to carry passengers up to 70 percent of its full capacity.

Read: Garuda Predicts Aviation Industry will Recover at 2022's End

BISNIS