Ministry Of Transportation Predicts Airplane Passengers To Rise During The Nataru Holiday Period

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) predicts an increase in the number of airplane passengers during the 2025 Christmas and 2026 New Year (Nataru) holidays. Both domestically and internationally.

Direktur Jenderal Perhubungan Udara Lukman F. Laisa mengatakan pihaknya telah menyiapkan rencana operasi khusus untuk memastikan keamanan, keselamatan, dan kenyamanan pengguna jasa penerbangan.

Lukman also said the Nataru monitoring post would be open from Thursday, December 18, 2025 to Sunday, January 4, 2026 at the Head Office of the Ministry of Transportation, which monitors activities at 257 airports throughout Indonesia.

"We estimate that the number of passengers has increased compared to last year, both for domestic and international routes," Lukman said in an official statement, Monday, November 17.

For the Nataru 2025 period, the Directorate General of Hubud projects the need to reach 326 aircraft. Consisting of 286 jet aircraft and 40 propeller aircraft.

"Currently, the total fleet of aircraft in Indonesia has reached 560 units, with 366 aircraft ready to operate and 194 are under treatment," said Lukman.

Furthermore, based on data from the Directorate General of Hubud, airlines with the highest number of fleets, including Lion Air (97 units), Wings Air (77 units), and Garuda Indonesia (81 units).

"The peak of the Christmas departure flow is expected to occur on December 21, 2025, while the largest backflow will occur from January 3 to 4, 2026," said Lukman.

The busiest airports are predicted to include Soekarno-Hatta (Tangerang), Ngurah Rai (Denpasar), Sultan Hasanuddin (Makassar), Kualanamu (Medan), and Juanda (Surabaya). For international routes, the highest movement will occur from and to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

Lukman also emphasized the importance of the readiness of all flight operators and airports in maintaining the safety, security, and service of passengers.

"We have prepared a contingency plan and guidelines for disaster prepared airports to deal with emergency conditions," he said.

In addition, the government and aviation operators also provide various incentives to reduce flight ticket rates during the Nataru period, including discounted VAT on economic tickets, reduced airport service costs, and lowering avtur prices at 37 airports.

"The tariff discount applies to ticket purchases from October 22, 2025 to January 10, 2026 and the flight period from December 22, 2025 to January 10, 2026. Hopefully this will be the best gift for passengers this holiday season," said Lukman.