The Number Of Passengers For Overseas Destinations From Balikpapan SAMS Airport Experiences An Increase

Aviation illustration/ Photo: Antara

JAKARTA There has been an increase in the number of passengers leaving the country from Sultan Aji Muhammad Sulaiman Airport (SAMS) Sepinggan Balikpapan, East Kalimantan. The increase has occurred since June 2023 until now with an estimated 100.75 percent.

"In May 2023, the number of passengers from Sepinggan Balikpapan SAMS Airport to abroad was only 4,158 people, but in June it rose drastically to 8,347 people," said Head of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) of East Kalimantan Province Yusniar Juliana, Antara, Sunday, August 6.

In East Kalimantan Province (Kaltim), currently there is only SAMS Sepinggan Airport serving flights abroad, such as to Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, or to Dubai, while other airports in East Kalimantan only serve domestic flights.

If the number of passengers on international air transportation from SAMS Sepinggan Airport is compared between January - June 2022 and January - June 2023, then there will be an increase of 686.80 percent, from 2,516 passengers to 19,796 passengers in January June 2023.

Meanwhile, the number of domestic air transport passengers in June 2023 was 240,335 people, an increase of 8.42 percent compared to the previous month which was recorded at 221,679 people.

The increase in the number of passengers occurred at all observed airports, namely Melalan Airport in West Kutai Regency, an increase of 80.49 percent, SAMS Sepinggan Airport in Balikpapan City increased by 8.80 percent.

Then Kalimarau Airport in Berau Regency increased by 8.02 percent, APT Pranoto Airport in Samarinda City by 5.84 percent, Datah Dawai Airport in Mahakam Ulu by 2.33 percent, and Badak Bontang Airport in Bontang City by 0.88 percent.

The highest number of domestic passengers was through Balikpapan's SAMS Sepinggan Airport, which reached 193,654 people or 80.58 percent of the total domestic passengers, followed by APT Pranoto reaching 30,468 people or 12.68 percent of the total domestic passengers.

"Meanwhile, the number of domestic air transport passengers for the January - June 2023 period has increased by 30.01 percent compared to the same period the previous year, from 987,053 passengers to 1,283,295 passengers," said Yusniar.