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LOMBOK Airport recorded a passenger growth of 188% in July 2020 compared to June 2020. A total of 49,861 passengers were served by this airport during July 2020, while in the previous month there were only 17,314 passengers arriving and departing from Lombok Airport.
According to the General Manager of Lombok Airport, Nugroho Jati said the movement of aircraft in July 2020 also increased. If in June 2020 there were only 333 movements, in July 2020 there were 777 aircraft movements or a 133% growth.
“The increase in the number of passengers and the movement of aircraft in July was strongly influenced by government policies through the Circular (SE) of the Task Force for the Acceleration of Handling COVID-19 Number 9 of 2020 which was issued on 26 June,” Nugroho Jati said.
According to the circular, the requirements for prospective domestic flight passengers include a certificate of rapid test results with non-reactive results or PCR (swab) tests with negative test results that are valid for 14 days.
He added, if averaged per day, in June 2020 there were 577 passengers per day while July 2020 there were 1,608 passengers per day. For the month of August 2020, until yesterday the average passenger arriving and departing from Lombok Airport reached 2,315 passengers per day.
“However, when compared between January to July 2020 with the same period last year, the number of passengers and aircraft movements at Lombok Airport recorded a significant decline. As a result of the outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic and flight restriction policies, users of Lombok Airport services in January-July 2020 fell by 49% compared to the January-July 2019 period, namely from 1.5 million passengers to only 780 thousand passengers,” he noted.
Meanwhile, aircraft movements fell from 18 thousand movements last year to 9 thousand aircraft movements in January-July 2020, or decreased by 50%. Currently, airlines that have re-opened their operations at Lombok Airport are Garuda Indonesia, Citilink, Lion Air, Batik Air, Wings Air, and Indonesia AirAsia.
The routes served include the destinations of Jakarta, Surabaya, Denpasar, Bima, Sumbawa Besar, and one destination abroad, namely to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Hopefully, over time, the number of airlines and flight routes will continue to grow.
“We, as airport managers, are currently promoting health protocols and implementing service procedures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Guidelines for health protocols and service procedures at the airport include the application of physical distancing, checking body temperature, and checking health documents, both for passengers and business partners and for all personnel on duty at Lombok Airport,” Nugroho mentioned.
The airport also routinely performs cleaning with disinfectant liquid every day of public facilities at the passenger terminal.
“This is done to provide a sense of security and comfort to passengers. We hope that airport service users also comply with health protocols by wearing masks, maintaining distance and maintaining cleanliness,” he concluded. [bisnis.com/photo special].
