Budget carrier AirAsia Indonesia (AAI) says it is planning for a 21 percent increase in passenger numbers this year due to the arrival of 5 new planes.
“We are expecting to carry 6.2 million passengers this year, up 21 percent from last year’s nearly 5.1 million passengers,” AAI spokeswoman Audrey Progastama Petriny told The Jakarta Post recently.
Audrey said that the airline saw a 27 percent jump in passenger numbers in 2011 over 4 million passengers in 2010.
AAI is expecting 5 Airbus A320s to arrive throughout the year, with the first arriving last month.
“After the arrival of one new Airbus last month, we are operating 17 units of Airbus A320s,” she said.
AAI also operates 4 Boeing B737s on its local and foreign routes.
The aircraft upgrades were part of plans to phase out AAI’s Boeings in favor of an all-Airbus fleet, Audrey said.
The company would focus on strengthening its domestic routes by launching new service between Jakarta and Semarang, Central Java; Bandung, West Java, and Surabaya, East Java and Surabaya and Denpasar, Bali, in 2012, she added.
“We will launch the first flight on the Jakarta – Semarang route on March 9,” she added.
The other routes were launched on Feb. 14. The airline offers two flights a day on the Jakarta – Semarang route and one flight a day on the Bandung – Surabaya and Surabaya – Denpasar routes.
On Feb. 10, national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia also launched Bandung – Surabaya service, using a Boeing 737-500 with 12 business-class seats and 84 economy seats, versus AAI’s Airbus A320s with 180 seats.
Audrey said that AAI was not afraid to compete with Garuda as the airlines catered to different market segments.
She said that the potential for flights serving Bandung, Semarang, and Denpasar was very promising due to the rise in tourism and the meeting, incentives, conference, and exhibitions (MICE) sector in the country.
The Transportation Ministry previously forecast that the number of airline passengers would increase by 15 percent in 2012, spurred by robust economic growth, new carriers and the expansion of existing operators.
According to the ministry, the nation’s airlines transported almost 65 million passengers in 2011, up 12 percent from 59 million in 2010. (nfo)
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