Measuring the Benefits and Losses of Revoking International Status for 18 Airports

"So far, most international airports only serve international flights to certain countries, not long-distance flights, so that international hubs are actually enjoyed by other countries," said Ministry of Transportation spokesperson Adita Irawati in Jakarta, Friday ( 4/26/2024).

The publication of KM No 31/2024 is expected to encourage the role of international airports as hubs in Indonesia. Other airports support it as a buffer.

Data from the Directorate General of Air Transportation at the Ministry of Transportation show that only a handful of international airports serve scheduled flights to foreign countries. Out of 35 international airports opened between 2015 and 2021, only five airports regularly serve arrivals and departures from several foreign countries. They are the Soekarno-Hatta Airport (Banten), I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport (Bali), Juanda Airport (East Java), Sultan Hasanuddin Airport (South Sulawesi), and Kualanamu Airport (North Sumatra).

Meanwhile, Adita continued, other international airports only serve short-haul flights to and from one to two countries. Flights are only carried out a few times, and some even have no international flight services at all. These two criteria for the last airports result in ineffective and inefficient operationalization in their usage.

Similarly, PT Angkasa Pura Indonesia (InJourney Airports) also welcomes the reduction of this international airport's status in a positive light. The KM No 31/2024 is deemed capable of building more effective air connectivity to drive tourism and economic growth.

InJourney Airports CEO Faik Fahmi stated that there are many internationally classified airports that only serve international flights 2-3 times a week. As a result, many international terminal facilities are only used to a limited extent or even remain idle for too long.

With this arrangement, InJourney Airports will implement a regionalization pattern at international airports as hubs and domestic airports as spoke support. In the future, connectivity between airports can increase.

"This kind of pattern is best practicein the global aviation industry and is generally accepted in many countries which has proven to be more effective," said Faik.

One of the airlines, PT Garuda Indonesia, was not really affected by the Ministry of Transportation's decision. This is because international flights are concentrated at several airports in Indonesia.

"For Garuda Indonesia, we are currently not affected. We only fly from Tangerang, Denpasar, and Surabaya," said Garuda Indonesia's CEO Irfan Setiaputra on Wednesday (8/5/2024).

New concept

This step is appreciated by the Chairman of the Indonesian Flight Service User Association (Apjapi), Alvin Lie. According to data he has gathered, only 15-17 active international airports have flight schedules to and from abroad. The rest only have "international" status.

The majority of airports only serve international flights to Singapore and Malaysia. This condition is considered less than ideal for Indonesia, both politically and economically.

"Our airports are only feeders for airports in Singapore and Malaysia. "This is reinforced by immigration data which shows, of the total passengers, 60-90 percent have Indonesian passports," said Alvin.

Unfortunately, those airports mainly serve the travels of Indonesian citizens going abroad rather than the other way around. However, international airports should be able to attract foreign citizens.

Two large-population countries are adjusting the number of their international airports. India, with a population of 1.42 billion, has 35 international airports, while the United States, with a population of 399.9 million, manages 18 international airports.

Aviation observer Gatot Rahardjo believes that until now, international airports have been dominated by requests from the Ministry of Tourism and local governments for prestige and political reasons.

Based on data from 2019, the number of international airline passengers in Indonesia reached 37 million people. However, only around 12 million people or 32 percent were carried by national airlines. The rest were carried by foreign airlines.

In 2023, the number of international passengers is expected to reach 29 million. The national airline only carries around 8 million people or 28 percent of the total.

"So, those who actually enjoy it are foreign airlines. National foreign exchange will also certainly flow out more than it flows in," said Gatot.

The reduction in international airports is expected to increase domestic flights. The existence of the cabotage principle which refers to state sovereignty will optimize domestic flights served by national airlines.

The concept of hub and spoke domestically, then internationally can also increase. Passengers from international (hub) airports will be flown to sub-hub or spoke airports by national airlines, and vice versa. This travel process is only served by national airlines.

"If this hub and spoke pattern is implemented well, of course tourist visits will also be more evenly distributed. "Tourist destinations that are developing are not only those that have international airports, but also in other places where the airports are small and only served by small aircraft," said Gatot.

Irfan made a similar statement. He believes that the hub and spoke concept is more profitable for airlines because it is related to efficiency and ensuring flight capacity is met.

Efforts can also minimize empty seats when traveling back and forth. If the capacity is not met and there are many empty seats, the airline will still suffer losses.

There's no alternative

The decision to revoke the international status of the airport has not only caused waves of support but also opposition. After the revocation of the international status, local governments, business actors, tourism observers, and the community regretted the decision.

Supadio Airport in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, is one of the airports that had its international status revoked. Most of the residents often go to Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, for medical treatment. Sometimes, they also need emergency services, so they use the land route from Pontianak to Kuching. Unlike the 30-minute flight, the travel time for the land route ranges from 6-8 hours.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, Supadio Airport has not served international flights. Until the pandemic ends, this service has yet to be implemented (Kompas.id, 27/4/2024).

The Chairman of the Indonesian Travel Agent Association (Astindo), Pauline Soeharno, stated that her organization actually has no problem with the revocation of international status of some airports. This is because international travelers have other options for airports.

For example, Husein Sastranegara Airport in Bandung has an alternative in Kertajati Airport, Majalengka. Similar situation occurred to Adisutjipto Airport in Yogyakarta, which was redirected to Yogyakarta International Airport.

However, the revocation of international status in several other airports has become a problem. For international travelers, they have to access planes to an airport that is far away. Another problem is that the airport serves as a gateway to several tourist locations in the local and surrounding areas.

"However, what is surprising is places like Pontianak (West Kalimantan), Semarang (Central Java), and Belitung (Bangka Belitung Islands) which, in fact, have potential for tourism and economy," he said.

Pauline continued, domestic flight tickets are still relatively expensive. In addition, not all regions have adequate infrastructure and other supporting facilities. As a result, not all areas are accessible.

"Imagine if you want to go from Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) to Semarang, it means you have to go through Yogyakarta or Jakarta, which will take several hours for land and train travel. Our transportation is not yet fully integrated," said Pauline, who is also the Secretary General of the Indonesian Tourism Industry Association (GIPI).

In addition, Pauline added that cargo affairs are also affected. There are no longer special areas for immigration and quarantine (CIQ) for airports whose international status has been revoked. This is because the requirements for sending and receiving cargo must go through customs and quarantine procedures.

Movement of tourists

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) records that the number of foreign tourists visiting in 2023 will reach 7.97 million visits. Among that number, I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport dominates with arrivals up to 65.8 percent, followed by Soekarno-Hatta (24.5 percent). Just below that, there are also Juanda (2.7 percent), Kualanamu (2.5 percent), and Yogyakarta International Airport (1.3 percent). The proportion of the remaining airports is below 1 percent, with even four airports recorded as 0 percent.

A similar trend can be seen in the number of domestic tourist arrivals according to the gateway. There were 5.78 million trips throughout 2023. The majority of arrivals were centered at Soekarno-Hatta Airport (64 percent), followed by Juanda (11 percent) and Kualanamu (11 percent). These were followed by I Gusti Ngurah Rai (3 percent), Sultan Hasanuddin (3 percent), Supadio (2 percent), Yogyakarta International Airport (1 percent), Minangkabau (1 percent), and Iskandar Muda (1 percent).

In order to achieve the goal of equitable connectivity between regions, the government needs to implement the hub and spoke concept more firmly and better. All parties must be embraced so that all airport market segments can be accommodated.

According to Gatot, prices that affect aircraft operational costs, such as avtur, should be adjusted. The government must periodically socialize this to the community, local governments, and relevant ministries.

"For airlines and airports, they will adapt to government regulations. "If the rules are enforced, they will definitely follow," he said.

Local governments need to adjust aviation regulations and provide markets by boosting potentials in their respective areas. Some examples include increasing economic activities as well as tourism activities.

The polemic over the revocation of international status for 17 airports is hoped to not drag on. The cooperation of all parties is needed to be able to see and respond to this issue from various perspectives. The best middle ground for all parties can be achieved by sitting together to reach a common agreement.