Indonesia AirAsia suspends scheduled flights as Covid spikes

Indonesia AirAsia (QZ, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) has said it would suspend its scheduled flight services starting this week to help the Indonesian government combat the latest spike in Covid-19 infections. Last week, Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced a two-week lockdown on the main island of Java and the tourism hotspot of Bali after the number of daily cases surpassed 20,000.

Given the Denpasar-Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta route accounts for over 20% of the budget carrier’s 23,760 weekly seats on offer, the AirAsia Group subsidiary said that it would cease all flight operations rather than focus on secondary routes.

“As part of our support for the government of the Republic of Indonesia in its effort to suppress the spread of Covid-19, and in line with the Java and Bali Emergency diktats, AirAsia Indonesia has suspended its scheduled flight services from July 6, 2021, to August 6, 2021,” it said.

Indonesia AirAsia serves 23 destinations throughout Indonesia as well as in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Australia.

Despite the suspension, the LCC said it would continue to operate repatriation charters and cargo flights while implementing strict health and safety protocols.