Why Some Airports in Indonesia Appear Empty and Deserted

The Ministry of Transportation has acknowledged that not all airports in Indonesia serve scheduled flights. A number of airports that appear operationally quiet are still in use, but only for pioneer flights or non-scheduled flights. Director General of Civil Aviation at the Ministry of Transportation, Lukman F. Laisa, stated that the government will conduct an evaluation of the utilisation of state-managed airports. This step is being taken to ensure that all air transport infrastructure can be utilised optimally. “We will check in more detail later regarding which airports are indeed not optimised,” Lukman said during a working meeting with Commission V of the Indonesian House of Representatives on Thursday (16/7/2026). The condition of airports that appear to have no commercial flight activity does not mean they are completely non-operational. Some of them still serve flights with different characteristics from commercial airports in general. “Indeed, there are some that are empty, but actually there are flights, just not scheduled flights,” Lukman noted. He explained that these airports generally serve pioneer flights aimed at opening up transport access to remote areas. Because the frequency is limited and they do not operate every day, flight activity at these airports appears quieter compared to commercial airports. “Sometimes it is only pioneer flights, especially the new airports, which are currently truly managed only for pioneer flights,” he said. Out of a total of 257 airports in Indonesia, 186 airports are under the management of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. The remainder are managed by local governments, the private sector, and PT Angkasa Pura Indonesia. “Of the total 257 airports, we manage 186 airports, 17 by local governments, 17 by the private sector, and 37 by Angkasa Pura Indonesia,” Lukman stated.