Runway upkeep forces SIA to cut 5 flights weekly to Jakarta

SINGAPORE — Flag carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA) will cut five weekly flights between Singapore and Jakarta from Dec 1 because of runway maintenance works at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport — the very same reason provided by Indonesian authorities earlier when they made SIA push back the launch of its thrice-weekly flights linking Singapore, Jakarta and Sydney.

“The Indonesian authorities have informed the airline that five flights must be cut due to runway maintenance works at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport,” SIA said in a statement on Monday (Nov 21). 

SIA has been operating 63 flights per week to and from the Indonesian capital since July 2013. The affected flights are SQ962 and SQ963 on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, it said. SIA apologised to customers for the inconvenience and said it will contact affected travellers to help book them on other flights.

Earlier this month, two weeks before SIA was set to launch its inaugural thrice-weekly flights linking Singapore, Jakarta and Sydney, the airline was told that the flights could not take off as scheduled despite having received written approvals and secured the necessary airport slots for the launch that was originally slated for Tuesday. The delay of the launch was discussed at the recent leaders’ retreat between Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Indonesian President Joko Widodo. Speaking to the Singapore media after the meeting, Mr Lee said he had pointed out that aviation is an important aspect of enhancing tourism cooperation between the two countries, and he hoped the matter will be resolved soon. 

Analysts said the Indonesian authorities’ latest move raises questions over whether SIA is being singled out because it appears to be the only airline affected by the runway maintenance works, with no other carriers making similar announcements.

“There are serious concerns that SIA most likely is being singled out, and that it is being forced to cut flights and delay the launch of its Jakarta-Sydney operations. The reasons are unclear. Also, one is not sure if other airlines’ operations are affected due to this runway maintenance,” an aviation analyst told TODAY on condition of anonymity. 

Runway maintenance works, he said, are usually carried out overnight and such works at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport do not seem to be affecting flight operations in a big way.

Mr Ellis Taylor, Asia Finance Editor at Flightglobal, added: “It is interesting that this comes after they announced a delay on the Singapore-Jakarta-Sydney route, but it is not clear if these two items are linked. For now, though, it underlines the importance of the Indonesian market for SIA, and I am sure they will be doing their best to restore the flights as soon as possible.” 

Jakarta is a large market for SIA, he reiterated, adding that the loss of these services represented close to 10 per cent of SIA’s seat capacity on the route. However, as the cuts appear to be temporary, he did not expect any material impact on SIA.

“In the short term, it may even be a positive as the lower seat supply could mean that they might be able to increase their fares. That could be negative for consumers, but would only last for a short time, and there are enough other carriers on the route that will offer enough competition to keep fares low,” Mr Taylor said.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said in response to media queries it was aware that SIA will be reducing its weekly services on the Singapore-Jakarta route from 63 to 58 from next month. 

It added it hopes the runway maintenance works “will be completed expeditiously” and that the impact on airlines “will be fairly distributed”.

“CAAS also hopes that the Indonesian civil aviation authorities will be able to allow SIA to resume all 63 weekly services to Jakarta as soon as possible to reduce the impact on business travellers and tourists, who rely heavily on air services to travel between Singapore and Jakarta,” it added.