Photo: Wikimedia Commons
The Centre for Aviation (CAPA) has reported that the 80-minute flight between Singapore and Jakarta has seen more than 20% growth in the past year, making it the fastest growing air route in the world.
One-way seats on close to 300 flights with airlines such as Garuda Indonesia, Singapore Airlines and Tiger Mandala are expected to hit 65,000 a week in November this year.
To accommodate the demand, Garuda has added a ninth daily flight to the route and is using a bigger plane for several of its flights.
The increasing traffic in and out of Indonesia’s capital city places pressure on Jakarta to rethink its use of space. The Soekarno-Hatta airport is already undergoing expansion works, but officials admit it won’t be able to cope with the rising number of passengers, the Straits Times reported. In light of this, Jakarta’s transport ministry is looking into reclaiming land off the city’s coast to make space for a third runway.
Said CAPA’s chief analyst Brendan Sobrie, “If Indonesia’s airports don’t expand, they will continue to lose potential passengers to Singapore.”
Singapore Changi Airport is a four-time winner of Skytrax’s World’s Best Airport award.
