AirNav Predicts 239 Percent Spike in Flights Amid Mudik Season

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - AirNav Indonesia predicts the number of commercial flight traffic throughout this year’s mass exodus or Mudik in celebration of Eid al-Fitr will increase by 239 percent compared to the same period last year. 

The air traffic spike is expected to occur from April 25 to May 11, 2022. 

“This is a direct effect of the government’s policy that permits the public to travel home in this year’s mudik period after it was restricted for the past two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” said AirNav president director Polana Banguningsih Pramesti to Tempo on April 14. 

Domestic carriers, according to Polana, have submitted additional flight slots to accommodate the high demands as AirNav logged traffic across 13 airports in the mudik season, reaching 928 flights. 

The highest traffic is expected to happen at the Jakarta Air Traffic Service Center (JATSC) in Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. Some 423 of these additional flights are concentrated at this airport.

The increasing number of aircraft movements, said Polana, shows that air transport traffic has returned to normal. When compared to the average flight during March 2022, she said, there would be an increase in the number of flights during the Lebaran (Eid) period by 5 percent.

AirNav also optimizes service operating hours by adjusting airport operating hours. Polana said that her office will extend operating hours if flight traffic is very high.

Read: Soekarno-Hatta Airport's Air Traffic Movement Hits Record

FRANCISCA CHRISTY ROSANA