Jakarta Halim, Indonesia closes for upgrade works
Several Indonesian airlines have announced temporary flight adjustments with the announced closure for renovations of Jakarta Halim for at least three months from January 25, 2022.
On the day, all scheduled commercial flight operations at the airport, a joint civil/military facility located in East Jakarta, will shift to Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta, state-owned airport operator Angkasa Pura II confirmed to ch-aviation in an email. A NOTAM indicates that while runway 06/24 is closed until April 25, the airport itself is still open to helicopter-operated military, VIP, and humanitarian missions.
Lion Air Group announced its carriers, Batik Air (ID, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) and Wings Air (Indonesia) (IW, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta), would divert their flights to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport from that date, while affected passengers would be refunded. Spokesman Danang Mandala Prihantoro said the airport closure followed the issuance of a presidential decree (Number 9 of 2022). Both carriers were coordinating with the Indonesian Ministry of Transportation, the Indonesian Air Force/TNI-AU Tentara Nasional Indonesia-Angkatan Udara, and other relevant stakeholders in an effort to lessen the impact of the temporary closure. Batik Air flights would depart from Terminal 2E at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, according to a social media announcement.
Citilink (QG, Surabaya) – a subsidiary of Garuda Indonesia (GA, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) – also announced the temporary closure of the airport and undertook to inform its passengers about changes to its flight schedules.
Charter carrier Susi Air (SQS, Jakarta Halim) announced its flights would divert to Jakarta Pondok Cabe. The company said its flight affected were those between Cijulang, Jakarta Halim, and Pondok Cabe. The schedule changes would have an impact on ticket prices, it said.
Batik Air is likely to be the most affected by the airport closure as it has the biggest market share at Jakarta Halim contributing 68% of weekly airline seats. Citilink has about 32% market share.
As reported previously, the temporary closure of the airport was delayed from January 1 pending the publication of the requisite presidential regulation.
Located in East Jakarta, Halim Perdanakusuma is conjoined with the Halim Perdanakusuma air force base of the Indonesian Air Force. Renovations will result in a revamp of the airport’s runway, military facilities, apron, and VIP building.