How Regional Aviation Can Complement Indonesia’s Mobility Network

Beyond the familiar skyline of Jakarta and the bustling tourist destinations of Java lies a very different Indonesia, an extraordinary country of more than 17,000 islands, where each region reveals its own cultures, landscapes, and ways of life. While many people associate the country with its capital and its most populated island, Indonesia’s true richness extends far beyond, spanning remote coastlines, volcanic peaks, tropical forests, and countless connections waiting to be discovered. 

Despite the challenges of its complex geography combining seas and mountains, Indonesia’s diverse peoples are far from immobile. According to ATR’s MobilityMonitor, which follows the movements of 35 million residents, around 780 million inter-city journeys are made every year across all modes of transport, including buses, ferries, trains and planes, all complemented by personal vehicles and swarms of motorbikes and scooters. 

Yet not all people across Indonesia have access to the same level of transport infrastructure and inter-city travel experience. For some of the archipelago’s inhabitants, reaching another city may take only a few hours. For others, a similar journey can require an entire day or more, resulting in an entirely different travel experience from one region to another.  

When Distance Is Measured in Time 

Providing fast, seamless mobility across a country of more than 1.9 million km² presents a unique challenge. Because Indonesia’s geography is fragmented by both mountains and sea, the development of high-capacity transport infrastructure is considerably more complex than in continental countries. The contrast between Java and the rest of Indonesia is particularly striking. Although Java accounts for only 7% of Indonesia’s land area, it contains 58% of the country’s motorway network. By comparison, Kalimantan is four times larger but counts only around 5% of Indonesia’s motorways. 

This infrastructure gap has a direct impact on mobility. 

Using our proprietary MobilityMonitor, we discovered that average surface travel speeds reach around 65 km/h in Java, thanks to an extensive motorway system. Outside Java, average speeds typically fall to between 26 and 37 km/h, depending on the island. At the same time, journey distances tend to be significantly longer, often exceeding 350 km and reaching nearly 480 km in parts of Papua. 

The result is that travelling outside Java can be both slower and farther. A journey that might take three hours on Java can require ten, fifteen or even twenty hours elsewhere. 

A telling example is the route between Bengkulu (BKS) and Pekanbaru (PKU) in Sumatra. Travellers don’t have any other choice than making the 770 kilometres journey by road, and they face a trip that can take well over 18 hours, due to the island’s geography and road network. What appears relatively straightforward on a map becomes a lengthy overland journey, in reality. 

Roads Are Essential, But They Cannot Be the Only Solution for Regional Mobility 

The importance of roads, railways and maritime transport cannot be overstated.  

Surface infrastructure remains the backbone of economic development and social cohesion. Continued investment in motorways and rail networks remains essential for high-demand city-pairs as Indonesia grows. 

Yet, even with continued investment, some journeys will remain lengthy and complex due to geographical constraints. Across large parts of Indonesia, trunk roads are tasked with serving many purposes at once. Often built as simple two-lane corridors, they carry everything from freight trucks and intercity buses to private cars, motorcycles and local traffic. In many towns and villages, homes, shops and restaurants open directly onto the roadway, with vehicles regularly stopping to park, load goods or pick up passengers. Minibuses frequently pull over to allow travellers on and off, while heavy vehicles, local traffic and commercial activity all share the same road space. 

Expanding road capacity everywhere is not always straightforward. Widening existing roads can be disruptive for local communities and businesses that depend on them, while building entirely new corridors often requires bridges, tunnels and significant engineering works to navigate Indonesia’s varied terrain. 

This is where regional aviation can complement surface transport. 

Indonesia already possesses a substantial network of airport infrastructure. ATR’s MobilityMonitor covers around 180 airports across the country, including approximately 70 that currently do not receive scheduled commercial services. While many of these facilities already exist, the mobility benefits they could provide are not always fully realised. 

At the same time, our analysis identifies significant volumes of existing travel demand on routes where journeys are long and time-consuming by surface transport. This suggests that, in some parts of the country, improving connectivity may not require entirely new infrastructure, but rather making greater use of infrastructure that is already in place. 

Where Regional Aviation Could Make the Biggest Difference 

This is where regional aviation has the potential to play a meaningful role. 

90% of Indonesia’s inter-city journeys take place over distances between 100 and 800 kilometres, a range particularly well suited to regional air transport. Our study identifies approximately 16 million potential regional passengers across 209 currently unserved routes within this segment alone. 

What is particularly noteworthy is where this opportunity exists. 

90% of new regional passenger potential is located outside Java, with especially strong opportunities across Sumatra, Sulawesi, Kalimantan, Papua and Maluku. 

In fact, the largest single source of new demand comes from travel within individual islands outside Java, where existing journeys are often conducted by road despite long travel times. The analysis estimates around 14 million potential passengers in this category. 

For airlines, this points towards an important shift. The most promising growth opportunities may not necessarily be found in Indonesia’s already well-served major routes on Java, or in connecting island groups to Java, but rather in developing regional networks that improve connectivity within other large island groups. Sumatra and Sulawesi emerge as particularly attractive markets, combining strong mobility demand with significant numbers of potentially viable new routes. 

With regional aviation, our previous example, the Bengkulu–Pekanbaru (BKS–PKU) journey could be completed in approximately one hour, compared with a road journey measured in 18. On this route, ATR’s MobilityMonitor sees passenger demand that would be sufficient for two flights per day. For passengers, the benefit is not simply faster travel but improved access to economic opportunities, services and networks across the island. 

Building a More Balanced Mobility System

What our model confirms is what we’ve been claiming for over 40 years: regional aviation is an important complement to other modes of transport. The reality is that different geographies require different mobility solutions – and ATR is making it an opportunity rather than a constraint.