ER
THE termination of several international flights by the airline had no impact on Kualanamu International Airport in Deli Serdang Regency, North Sumatra Province.
“This is only for international flights and has just been notified, while for domestic flights has increased significantly,” said Executive General Manager (EGM) Angkasa Pura II Kualanamu, Djodi Prasetyo in his written statement.
Previously, the Kingdom Authority of Saudi Arabia at the end of February 2020 had temporarily stopped flights from Indonesia, especially for residents who wanted to carry out Umrah and tourism both in Mecca and Medina.
Likewise, the Singapore Government Authority suspended temporary flight schedules to and from Indonesia following an outbreak of the corona virus outbreak (Covid-19).
For the Government of Indonesia to take the same steps, through the Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi has appealed to the airlines to temporarily stop flights to the two countries. This was done to respect the policies taken by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Singapore.
Djodi said, specifically in March 2020 there was indeed a decrease in “traffic” at Kualanamu Airport. Compared to January 2020, the international flight termination by Cathay Pacific, while February 2020 for Garuda’s international flights, the Amsterdam and London routes were moved to Jakarta and not in Kualanamu anymore.
This international flight which was temporarily suspended in March 2020 with a total of 23 flight schedules canceled to Singapore, namely 10 Silk Air and 13 Jet Star.
“For domestic flights, there has actually been an increase because there is a policy of providing incentives from the government in the form of discounted airplane tickets by 50 percent so that the increase in the number of passengers at Kualanamu Airport,” he said.
The government, through the Minister of Transportation, Budi Karya, decided to give a 50 percent discount on plane tickets to 10 tourist destinations, namely Batam, Denpasar, Yogyakarta, Labuhan Bajo, Lombok, Malang, Manado, Silangit, Tanjung Pinang and Tanjung Pandan.
This is to increase the flow of passengers to Indonesia, which has recently suffered mainly in the tourism and hospitality sectors due to the corona virus. The Government’s Transportation Incentive Policy is launched to stimulate the national tourism sector amid the challenges of the global spread of the corona virus. [antaranews/photo special]
