Key Takeaways
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Indonesia expects more than five million airline passengers during the 2025–2026 Christmas and New Year holidays. |
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Peak outbound traffic falls on December 21, while return peaks occur between January 3 and January 4. |
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Soekarno-Hatta, Ngurah Rai, Sultan Hasanuddin, Kualanamu, and Juanda rank among the busiest airports. |
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The government offers VAT discounts, lower airport service charges, and fuel price adjustments to keep tickets affordable. |
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JAKARTA, Investortrust.id — The Ministry of Transportation forecasts more than five million people travel by air during the Christmas and New Year holiday period as the government launches special operations to ensure safe and smooth flights.
Director General of Air Transportation Lukman F Laisa says the national monitoring post operates from December 18 to January 4 at the ministry’s headquarters in Jakarta and supervises activities across 257 airports nationwide.
He says passenger numbers rise about seven percent from last year, bringing the combined total for domestic and international routes above five million travelers.
Lukman notes domestic passengers are expected to reach 3.89 million people, while international travelers may climb to 1.15 million.
He adds airlines will require an estimated 326 aircraft, including 286 jets and 40 propeller planes, to handle peak-season demand.
From a national fleet of 560 aircraft, he says 366 units were ready for operation while 194 remained under maintenance. He cites Lion Air with 97 aircraft, Wings Air with 77, and Garuda Indonesia with 81 as the operators with the largest active fleets this season.
Lukman says outbound peak traffic was expected on December 21, while return flows were projected between January 3 and January 4.
He identifies Soekarno-Hatta in Tangerang, Ngurah Rai in Denpasar, Sultan Hasanuddin in Makassar, Kualanamu in Medan, and Juanda in Surabaya as the busiest airports. International traffic was expected to be heaviest on routes to and from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.
He says airlines and airport operators had been instructed to strengthen service readiness throughout the holiday period. The ministry also prepared contingency plans and disaster-response guidelines to manage emergencies.
The government worked with carriers to keep fares affordable by offering incentives, including value-added tax discounts on economy-class tickets and lower airport service charges.
Fuel price adjustments at 37 airports were also part of the effort. Lukman says the discounted ticket period applied to purchases from October 22 to January 10 for flights between December 22 and January 10.
He hopes the measures help keep travel accessible for families during the holiday season.
