TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Blue Bird Nordic or BBN Airlines Indonesia has stopped all its scheduled flights due to low passenger numbers and a change in the company's business strategy to aircraft leasing. This decision has affected several routes the airline used to fly. Here are the facts behind the discontinuation of the airline's flight operations.

Ending the Jakarta-Surabaya Route

The Jakarta (CGK) - Surabaya (SUB) route, which BBN Airlines Indonesia used to fly, was stopped on January 15, 2025. Data from the Transportation Ministry showed very few passengers were using this route.

From when they started flying on September 27, 2024, to January 15, 2025, the planes were only 43 percent full on average. The forecast for January 16 to March 29, 2025, showed even fewer passengers, only 5 percent.

Lukman F. Laisa, the Acting Director General of Air Transportation at the Transportation Ministry, said that the CGK-SUB route was stopped because not enough people were flying, and the airline was changing its operational plans. This forced BBN Airlines to conduct an evaluation and decide to stop flying that route.

Stopping Other Routes

BBN Airlines Indonesia also stopped flying the Jakarta (CGK) - Balikpapan (BPN) route because of low passenger numbers. This shows the airline had trouble attracting customers to many of the places they served.

Also, the last two routes they were still flying, Jakarta (CGK) - Denpasar (DPS) and Jakarta (CGK) - Pontianak (PNK), were also terminated. This decision was clear when the airline's flights disappeared from online ticket sellers like Traveloka and other travel websites.

Moving to Aircraft Leasing (ACMI)

After discontinuing all scheduled flights, BBN Airlines Indonesia is now focusing on leasing aircraft with the ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance, and Insurance) plan. They made this change to match their business strategy with the dynamics of the aviation industry.

Martynas Grigas, the Chairperson of BBN Airlines Indonesia, said this change helps other airlines run more efficiently when there is a lot of demand for flights. The ACMI service lets other airlines rent planes with crew, maintenance, and insurance included, so they do not have to manage those things independently. This helps airlines save money and be more efficient.

Martynas also said that Sriwijaya Air was the first customer to use BBN Airlines Indonesia's ACMI service. The company also worked with airlines in South Asia, such as SpiceJet, to help them operate domestic and international routes in 2024.

The main benefit of BBN Airlines Indonesia's ACMI business is that it is quick to set up. Planes and crews can start flying 2-4 weeks after an agreement is made.

Refunding Tickets for Passengers

As a result of the flights' discontinuation, BBN Airlines Indonesia had to refund passengers who bought tickets for canceled trips. On January 16, 2025, the airline found that 306 tickets had been sold for flights between January 17 and March 28, 2025.

Of those, 288 tickets have been refunded, and 18 are still being processed.

Sukma Kanthi Nurani contributed to the writing of this article.

Editor’s Choice: France Increases Airfare Tax to Popular European Destinations

Click here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News