Jakarta’s secondary Halim Perdanakusuma airport will expand the total number of slots to 74, allowing more carriers to move their operations away from the city’s main Soekarno-Hatta International airport.

The expanded number of slots was agreed by the Indonesian air force, which owns Halim, and scheduled carriers are welcome to apply for slots to operate at the airport, says the country’s transport ministry.

To date, low-cost carrier Citilink is the only scheduled airline operating from Halim. Its published schedule shows it flies to Malang, Palembang, Semarang and Yogyakarta.

Competitors Indonesia AirAsia and Tigerair Mandala have since dropped plans to fly from the secondary airport due to its status as a domestic airport. They say that splitting operations between Halim and Soekarno-Hatta will reduce operational efficiencies and increase costs.

Halim Perdanakusuma resumed commercial operations on 10 January, in a bid to alleviate congestion at Soekarno-Hatta. Both airports are managed by state-owned airport operator Angkasa Pura II.

Source: Cirium Dashboard