06 Jan 2025
Mangupura, January 6, 2025 – The continuous growth in passenger and aircraft movements, especially during the 2024 Christmas and 2025 New Year (Nataru) holiday season, was anticipated by PT Angkasa Pura Indonesia through a series of revitalization and optimization programs, which proved effective in easing congestion during the peak travel period.
At the closing of the Nataru Command Post, General Manager of I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, Ahmad Syaugi Shahab, said: “We had predicted a significant surge in passenger numbers during the Christmas and New Year holidays. Based on previous years’ experience, long queues and crowding were unavoidable at several service points. Therefore, we accelerated the completion of optimization works on critical facilities—particularly those directly related to passenger services—prior to the holiday season,” Syaugi explained on Tuesday (7/1).
The airport’s revitalization and optimization programs included adjustments and expansion of the landside area, redesign and re-layout of terminals—especially critical passenger service zones—and the adoption of technology-based airport operations.
Key projects prioritized included expanding terminal space and adding four new passenger screening lanes (Security Check Points) at both domestic and international terminals, each equipped with additional X-ray machines.
"From our data, during the 19-day Nataru Command Post period from December 18, 2024, to January 5, 2025, we served 1,372,030 passengers—comprising 592,937 domestic and 779,093 international travelers. This represents an 8 percent increase compared to last year’s Nataru period, which recorded 1.2 million passengers. On average, we served 72,000 passengers daily, above the normal range of 65,000–67,000 per day," Syaugi said.
Flight traffic also increased by 3 percent, with 8,148 aircraft movements recorded this year compared to 7,948 in the previous Nataru season. Domestic flights accounted for 4,032 movements, while international flights totaled 4,116.
During the same period, extra flight requests reached a realization rate of 83 percent—out of 528 proposed flights, 436 were approved and operated. The busiest additional routes included Jakarta (Soekarno-Hatta) with 283 flights, followed by Surabaya with 95 flights, and Lombok with 29 flights.
"We are very grateful that despite the increase in both passenger and aircraft traffic, service quality was maintained at a high standard. While some crowding was inevitable due to the year-end peak season, no long queues disrupted airport operations. Moreover, there were no irregularities reported during Nataru, even amid the extreme weather in Bali. This success was made possible through the strong collaboration of all airport stakeholders," he added.
In addition to terminal improvements, landside traffic flow was also optimized. To address congestion inside the airport area, PT Angkasa Pura Indonesia carried out major upgrades. “More than 90 percent of the landside area was restructured, including the construction of a pedestrian bridge (JPO) to separate passenger movements from vehicular traffic. This has enhanced both passenger safety and comfort, while improving the organization of pick-up traffic,” Syaugi explained.
Further measures included expanding vehicle access lanes from two to four, widening roads at domestic departure and arrival areas, upgrading entry and exit gates, reorganizing traffic flow to the international parking building, and constructing new shelters at the pick-up zones.
"Based on our recap of vehicular traffic during the Nataru period, we recorded 689,000 vehicles entering and 687,000 exiting the airport. This brought total vehicle movements to 1.3 million over 19 days, averaging 72,000 vehicles daily. These landside revitalization efforts proved highly effective in addressing congestion, as no significant traffic jams occurred inside the airport throughout the season," he added.
"We extend our highest appreciation to all partners and stakeholders, whose cooperation ensured the success of this year’s Nataru operations at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport," Syaugi concluded.
