Juanda Airport adopts extreme weather-handling measures during rainy season

Surabaya (ANTARA) - The Juanda International Airport in Sidoarjo, East Java, is taking anticipatory steps to maintain flight security and safety during the extreme weather amid the rainy season at the end of 2021.

"We continue to coordinate with relevant stakeholders, such as the Airport Authority Region III; Juanda Naval Airbase; Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency (BMKG); AirNav; airlines; and ground handling crew regarding anticipatory steps ahead of the extreme weather," General Manager of Juanda International Airport, Sisyani Jaffar, noted in a press statement on Friday.

According to the BMKG forecast, the rainfall intensity will continue to increase until December and enter its peak from January to February 2022, he added.

Jaffar noted that a contingency plan had been readied with relevant stakeholders.

"We are ready to receive flight diversions from other airports in case of bad weather at the origin airport," he noted.

Landing diversions are common in aviation when bad weather occurs during the rainy season and reduces visual visibility due to high rainfall, fog, or other conditions, Jaffar explained.

"Landing diversions are needed to maintain flight safety and security," he added.

Apart from coordinating with external parties, Juanda International Airport also coordinates with its internal team to prepare anticipatory steps.

"From the internal side, we have ensured the supervision and maintenance of work, both in the landside and airside areas, had run well according to flight security and safety procedures," he remarked.

The airport management also prepares waiting room arrangements for delayed flight passengers due to bad weather, with the implementation of strict health protocols, Jaffar noted.

Meanwhile, traffic conditions at Juanda Airport towards the end of the year began to show a positive trend. In comparison with the traffic performance in November, until mid-October, an average 18-percent growth in the number of passengers per day was recorded.

"In last November, we served an average of 21 thousand passengers per day, as compared to October this year when we only served 18 thousand passengers per day," he stated.

Overall, the number of air passengers at Juanda Airport from January to October 2021 reached 4,504,190 comprising 4,426,047 domestic flight passengers and 78,143 international flight passengers.

The aircraft traffic totaled 44,640 comprising 42,697 domestic aircraft and 1,943 international aircraft.

Meanwhile, cargo services weighed in at 57,217,018 kg comprising 44,973,962 kg for domestic flights and 12,243,056 kg for international flights.

Jaffar admitted that since early November, the highest daily count of aircraft reached 200 per day, while in the previous month, the figure only reached 173 aircraft per day.

The trend of an increase in the number of daily passengers was observed since the implementation of antigen swab testing as one of the flight requirements.

"Since the start of November, the government has implemented antigen swab testing apart from RT-PCR. The regulation had a positive impact on the aviation industry. We were optimistic that the number of passengers would continue to increase until the end of 2021," he added. (*)