Jakarta. State-owned airport operator Angkasa Pura Indonesia has projected that air passenger traffic during the year-end holidays will reach its peak on Friday, December 20.

Wendo Asrul, the Operations Director of Angkasa Pura, estimated that approximately 605,000 passengers will travel through the 37 airports managed by the company on that day.

“The highest traffic for the year-end holiday season is expected to be on Friday, December 20, 2024, with about 605,000 passengers across all the airports we manage,” Wendo said during a press briefing in Tangerang on Tuesday evening.

Post-holiday air traffic is predicted to peak on Saturday, January 4, 2025, with around 502,000 passengers.

Wendo highlighted several airports that are expected to experience the highest traffic during the Christmas and New Year (Nataru) season. These include Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali, Juanda International Airport in Surabaya, and Yogyakarta International Airport.

Other airports likely to see significant increases in passenger traffic include those in Balikpapan, Kualanamu, Manado, Kupang, and Ambon, driven primarily by tourism and travel for holiday celebrations.

“There are two main types of travel during this period: tourism and trips for celebrating Christmas and New Year,” Wendo explained.

The government has previously predicted a 2.83 percent increase in holiday travelers this season, with the total reaching around 110.6 million people.

In addition to air travel, the government also anticipates a surge in railway passengers. So far, 803,626 tickets for medium- and long-distance trains have been sold for the Christmas and New Year holidays.

To manage the expected surge in road traffic, National Police Chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo announced that nearly 2,800 traffic posts have been established, and additional personnel have been deployed nationwide to ensure smooth travel during the holiday season.