Aviation in Indonesia
[a] With an estimated population of over 255 million people — making it the world's fourth-most-populous country — and also due to the growth of the middle-class, the boom of low-cost carriers in the recent decade, and overall economic growth, many domestic travellers shifted from land and sea transport to faster and more comfortable air travel.
[6] Indonesian aviation faces numerous challenges, including poorly maintained, outdated, and often overwhelmed infrastructure, the factor of human error, bad weather, haze problems caused by plantation fires, and volcanic ash spewed by numerous area volcanoes that disrupts air transportation.
The country is ranked as having the second-fastest growing aviation industry in the world after China in terms of aircraft order and business value.
This systematic imbalance for exchange of traffic rights has led Indonesian carriers to lobby their government to refrain from entering into multilateral agreement on ASEAN Single Aviation Market.
[17] Access to foreign carriers on domestic routes is disallowed, while international flights will be subject to bilateral agreements.
On 1 October 1924, KLM started its first intercontinental flight, connecting Amsterdam to Batavia (now Jakarta) in a Fokker F-VII airplane.
The route connected Amsterdam to Marseille, Rome, Brindisi, Athens, Merza Matruh, Cairo, Gaza, Baghdad, Bushire, Lingeh, Ojask, Gwadar, Karachi, Jodhpur, Allahabad, Calcutta, Akyab, Rangoon, Bangkok, Alor Star, Medan, Palembang, and Batavia, and extended to Bandung.
[19] The Koninklijke Nederlandsch-Indische Luchtvaart Maatschappij (KNILM) — the airline of the former Dutch East Indies — was established on 16 July 1928.
Gradually, the services were expanded to include other islands in the archipelago, namely Palembang and Medan in Sumatra, Balikpapan and Tarakan in Kalimantan, and Denpasar in Bali.
After enduring five years of war and securing recognition of Indonesian Independence in late 1949, the aviation service reopened for business.
[23] In the early years of the Indonesian Republic, Garuda Indonesia dominated the air transport service in the country, connecting major cities in the archipelago.
In 1956, the Garuda Indonesia operated its first hajj flight to Mecca with Convair aircraft, carrying 40 Indonesian pilgrims.
By the mid 1960s, the airline took delivery of its first Douglas DC-8 and grew beyond the Asian market, beginning scheduled flights to Amsterdam and Frankfurt via Colombo, Bombay, and Prague.
Rome and Paris became the airline's third and fourth European destinations, with flights stopping in Bombay and Cairo to refuel.
[24] In 1962, the government-owned Merpati Nusantara Airlines was established to serve penerbangan perintis (pioneer flights) with small aircraft to connect remote locations in the archipelago.
[26][27] In 2000, the Indonesian government announced the aviation deregulation policy, which makes it easier to acquire a permit to establish a new airline company.
The most significant current problems in Indonesian aviation are poor development and maintenance of air transportation infrastructure, especially in remote areas.
Other significant problems include overcapacity; the massive surge of air travelers in recent years, prompted by the growth of low-cost carrier passengers, has put intense stress on the aging airport infrastructure in Indonesia.
[34] On 29 October 2018, Lion Air Flight 610, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, crashed in the Java Sea 12 minutes after takeoff from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board.
[38] After the 2000 aviation deregulation, Indonesian airports endured a surge of passengers, especially catalyzed by the advent of low-cost carriers.
According to the Indonesian Transportation Ministry, 9 of the 13 airports managed by PT Angkasa Pura I have exceeded their passenger capacity.
[7] Jakarta's Soekarno–Hatta International Airport serves as the country's main air transportation hub as well as the nation's busiest.
[40] Next to Soekarno-Hatta, the top five busiest airports in Indonesia which serve as the nation's regional hubs are Juanda (Surabaya), Ngurah Rai (Bali), Sultan Hasanuddin (Makassar), and Kualanamu (Medan).
[48] To improve transportation interconnectivity, the government has built railways connecting airports all over Indonesia with nearby city centers.
The notable ones are Halim Perdana Kusuma Airbase in Jakarta, serving Indonesia's VVIP, where Indonesian Presidential Aircraft stationed.
[63] Since 2014, Indonesian Airforce also had upgraded its military airbase in Ranai, Natuna islands, and increasing its presence in South China Sea region.
