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SOEKARNO-Hatta International Airport recorded the highest flight frequency during the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching 530 flights on Thursday (20/8).
According to the President Director of PT Angkasa Pura II Muhammad Awaluddin in his statement in Jakarta, said that the flight frequency was quite high following the long holiday from 20-23 August 2020. This pattern is the same as normal conditions, namely the frequency of flights on long holidays is higher than normal days.
He said flights at Soekarno-Hatta Airport slowly recovered during the adaptation period of new habits, where the optimization of flight time slots had reached around 40 percent to 45 percent.
“To find out what reasons decide a traveler wants to travel by plane during this long holiday period, PT Angkasa Pura II (Persero) conducted a survey and analysis of travelers at Soekarno-Hatta Airport on August 20, 2020,” Muhammad Awaluddin said.
He added that the survey used a dipstick survey, which is an open-question method to get information quickly about certain issues from randomly selected respondents (240 people at Soekarno-Hatta Airport). The respondents in this survey were aged less than 20 years to 49 years.
Awaluddin said the rapid survey could also illustrate what prompted flight traffic to start recovering. The results of this survey can also be used as a benchmark regarding the extent to which travelers need and knowledge of health protocols in the airport and aviation sector.
“As many as 51% of respondents understand and 49% of respondents are very familiar with health protocols. “The level of traveler’s understanding of health protocols is high enough that it makes airport activities run smoothly and flight operations are not disrupted,” he noted.
According to him, the high level of understanding related to health protocols cannot be separated from the Safe Travel Campaign launched by PT Angkasa Pura II and other stakeholders.
“Soekarno-Hatta Airport enforces a health protocol in the midst of a pandemic at the time of departure and arrival of passengers. By understanding the protocol, passengers prepare everything before traveling,” Awaluddin added.
In the midst of a pandemic, the development of Soekarno-Hatta Airport services and facilities has focused on five initiatives, namely maintaining distance, health checks, contactless processes, cleaning facilities and protecting visitors.
According to Awaluddin, this makes 67% of respondents comfortable and 26% very comfortable with services and facilities at the airport. Meanwhile, there is one percent of respondents who still feel very uncomfortable and six percent are uncomfortable. Five Initiatives in supporting health aspects are carried out consistently. We will increase these efforts in a sustainable manner.
“In the survey, travelers also believe that Soekarno-Hatta Airport together with stakeholders still prioritizes aviation security aspects in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. This also encourages the trust of travelers to use planes. As many as 64% of respondents are confident and 27% of respondents are very confident about the level of flight security, while there are still respondents who are not sure at 9%,” he affirmed.
Awaluddin explained, travelers believe that aircraft can provide a high level of safety in flight. This level of safety also includes being safe from COVID-19 with the presence of HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) air filter technology which is able to maintain the cleanliness level of the air in the cabin.
As many as 65% of respondents are confident and 25% of respondents are very confident about the level of safety on board, while there are still respondents who are unsure (nine percent) and very unsure (one percent).
“Travelers are increasingly confident about traveling by plane. On an ongoing basis, PT Angkasa Pura II and stakeholders are also campaigning for the Safe Travel Campaign to ensure strict compliance with health protocols,” Awaluddin concluded. [antaranews/photo special]
