DATA SPOTLIGHT: Indonesia

23 September, 2020

This year the Corporate Travel Community (CTC) will feature some of the leading airlines, airports and country markets for air travel. Here, using the extensive profile insights available to CAPA - Centre for Aviation members to deliver a data snapshot at where they sit today in the Covid-19 impacted world, we look at Indonesia, where alongside a range of methods to boost the ailing air transport industry, sits an interesting proposal to site future airport projects on water or at waterfront locations to incorporate seaplane activity.

The natural geography of the Southeast Asian nation and its more than seventeen thousand islands means seaplane travel has clear advantages and Indonesia's director general of air transportation Novie Riyanto has reported that government is seriously exploring developing this area. Mr Riyanto has stated the proposal aims to increase tourism prospects in the country as "large areas of Indonesia are territorial waters. So the development of seaplanes is our focus".

Existing proposals under consideration are said to include locations at Lake Toba; Senua Island; Gili Iyang Island; Derawan Berau; Gili Trawangan; Labuan Bajo; Bunaken Manado; Wakatobi; Widi Island; and Raja Ampat.

One of the more positive developments in the Asia-Pacific region has been the quick rebound of many important domestic markets. The expectation was that domestic markets would recover first, followed by short haul intraregional services, and with long haul international markets taking longest to return.

This has certainly been borne out in practice. As internal travel restrictions were removed in certain markets, airlines were able to reintroduce domestic routes fairly quickly. In many cases, of course, capacity does not tell the full story. Although routes have been restored, filling the planes has been a challenge for airlines. Demand has lagged the capacity increases, but some airlines are restoring their networks in a proactive effort to stimulate travel.

It is an especially fragile situation for the industry in Indonesia where national carrier Garuda Indonesia was among the flag carriers in the region where its financial situation could be described as precarious at best. The airline has been in turnaround mode for some time, and as part of that process has been looking to defer or cancel aircraft orders to improve its financial health. The COVID-19 crisis has made these efforts more urgent, and the airline has confirmed that it does not intend to take delivery of any of its 49 Boeing 737 MAX orders.

Garuda took an important step in Jun-2020 with an agreement to delay major Islamic bond payments for three years, and the Indonesian government is considering an IDR8.5 trillion bailout package. Garuda's progress has also not been helped by a rapid CEO turnover in recent years, with the latest change occurring in Jan-2020.

AIRPORTS IN THE COUNTRY

ANNUAL VISITOR ARRIVALS (2010 - 2020YTD)

VISITOR ARRIVALS BY MARKET (2019)

MONTHLY VISITOR ARRIVALS AND SEASONALITY IN DEMAND (2015 - 2020)

SCHEDULE MOVEMENT SUMMARY (w/c 21-Sep-2020)

ANNUAL CAPACITY (2012 - 2021*)NOTE:*the values for this year are at least partly predictive up to six months and may be subject to change.

WEEKLY DOMESTIC CAPACITY (2017 - 2020*)NOTE:*the values for this year are at least partly predictive up to six months and may be subject to change.

WEEKLY INTERNATIONAL CAPACITY (2017-2020*)NOTE:*the values for this year are at least partly predictive up to six months and may be subject to change.