The Indonesian Ministry of Transportation has ordered airlines to relocate all domestic jet operations from Bandung to Majalengka Kertajati International by July 1, 2019, The Jakarta Post has reported.
"The purpose is to balance the flow of passengers as instructed by the director general [of the Ministry Polana B. Pramesti] to manage domestic and foreign flights. We will make the transfer a priority so that it could be done no later than July 1," the President Director of state-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura II (AP II), Muhammad Awaluddin, said.
According to the ch-aviation schedules module, Lion Air plans to relocate domestic B737-800 services to Balikpapan, Banjarmasin, Batam, Denpasar, Praya Lombok International, Makassar, Manado, Medan Kuala Namu, Pekanbaru, Pontianak, and Surabaya from Bandung to Majalengka on July 1, 2019.
Schedules data also indicates that the LCC's regional subsidiary Wings Air (Indonesia) (IW, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) intends to resume ATR72 services from Majalengka to Yogyakarta Adisutjipto and Jakarta Halim. Both routes were suspended in January 2019, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows.
Other airlines that operate domestic jet services out of Bandung will also be forced to relocate, although they have not yet filed their respective updated schedules, are:
- Garuda Indonesia (GA, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) - daily to Denpasar using B737-800s;
- NAM Air (IN, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) - daily to Denpasar via Surabaya and daily to Pangkalpinang, both using B737-500s;
- Indonesia AirAsia (QZ, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) - daily to Denpasar using A320-200s;
- Citilink (QG, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) - daily to Denpasar, 2x daily to Jakarta Halim, daily to Medan, daily to Palembang, daily to Pekanbaru, and 2x daily to Surabaya using A320s;
- xpressair (XAR, Makassar) - daily to Padang and daily to Pekanbaru using B737-300s.
Bandung also sees domestic turboprop services operated by Wings Air and NAM Air, as well as international flights to Kuala Lumpur International and Singapore Changi which will not be affected by the regulatory traffic relocation.
Majalengka opened in May 2018 but has struggled to secure sustained scheduled traffic. The airport is located 70 kilometres from Bandung.