Angkasa Pura

PT Angkasa Pura II and Airport Industry Players in Europe, Middle East and South Asia Agree 3 Powerful Steps to Face COVID-19

Jakarta - PT Angkasa Pura II (Persero) together with the airport industry players in Europe, South Asia and the Middle East agreed on three ways for the global aviation sector to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

These three important ways or points are summarized in the Debate Panel webinar: ‘New Normal’ - What about the new possible? Building a better future for the airport, which was held on Wednesday night, 22 July 2020.

Speakers in the webinar came from 4 regions, namely President Director of PT Angkasa Pura II Muhammad Awaluddin (Southeast Asia), President of the International Airport Council (ACI) Europe Jost Lammers (Europe), CEO of Oman Airports Sheikh Aimen Al Hosni (Middle East), and Bengaluru International Airport Limited's Chief Strategy & Development Officer Satyaki Raghunath (South Asia).

These three important points that could become the aviation sector's strength in dealing with a pandemic are:

1. Closer collaboration between stakeholders
Each stakeholder must work closely together such as airport operators, airlines and regulators, as well as among a number of global organizations namely the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the International Air Transport Association (IATA), and the International Airport Council (ACI).

PT Angkasa Pura II President Director Muhammad Awaluddin said in the webinar that PT Angkasa Pura II, together with stakeholders, focused on 5 main keys in airport services in the midst of a pandemic.

"Cooperation among stakeholders must be carried out more closely. In the perspective of airport services, PT Angkasa Pura II, together with stakeholders, developed a protocol with 5 main keys, namely physical distancing, health screening, touchless processing, cleanliness and disinfection of facilities, and protection of everyone, "said Muhammad Awaluddin.

Meanwhile, continued Muhammad Awaluddin, currently PT Angkasa Pura II is also working closely with the airlines to optimize and maximize flight time slots and reactivate domestic routes.

Meanwhile, President of the Airport Council International (ACI) Europe Jost Lammers said each party must maintain close cooperation.

"There are many similarities we have. If we can maintain good cooperation between airlines and airport operators then that is a very big opportunity [in dealing with COVID-19], "said Jost Lammers.

2. Digitalization
Stakeholders must be able to implement digitization and utilize technology to improve passenger experience and as an effort to face the challenges of COVID-19

CEO of Oman Airports Sheikh Aimen Al Hosni said the concept of Single Token Journey is quite important to be applied especially in the middle of a pandemic.

"From curbside to [passengers] in the seat of the aircraft, whether they carry luggage or only luggage, can be done automatically including the immigration corridor," said Sheikh Aimen Al Hosni.

PT Angkasa Pura II President Director Muhammad Awaluddin said digitization was indeed one of the company's focuses to improve passenger experience.

"PT Angkasa Pura II has digitalized it to make it easier for airplane passenger trips. One example is the Travelation application that supports the Indonesia Airports application. Travelation is used to digitally check documents that must be fulfilled by everyone who wants to travel by plane in the middle of a pandemic, "said Muhammad Awaluddin.

3. Develop a non-aeronautical business
Aviation industry players must exploit non-aeronautical businesses which up to now may not have been optimally touched. The increase in non-aeronautical businesses can compensate for the decline in pandemic-depressed aeronautical businesses.

"There needs to be new ways to use technology in addition to improving customer experience, we also have to be fundamentally able to explore whether we can generate additional revenue using technology," explained Chief Strategy & Development Officer of Bengaluru International Airport Limited Satyaki Raghunath.

PT Angkasa Pura II President Director Muhammad Awaluddin said non-aeronautical revenues could be boosted by maximizing and optimizing existing assets outside the airport and inside the airport, for example through developing the concept of aerotropolis.

Through these three important points, global airport sector players are optimistic that they can face the challenges of COVID-19 and carry out a number of business and aviation traffic recovery plans.