Indonesia’s Medan poised for international growth as new airport opens, led by AirAsia and Lion Air

The Kuala Namu International Airport outside Medan opened on 25-Jul-2013, becoming the least congested major airport in Indonesia. Medan currently only has six international routes and is served by only six foreign carriers, five of which come from nearby Malaysia and Singapore. But Kuala Namu has the potential of becoming a major international hub in response to growing demand from the local market, which has a catchment area of over 10 million people, and from transit traffic as infrastructure constraints at Indonesia's other major airports worsen.

Garuda Indonesia, which opened a domestic hub in Medan earlier this year, has postponed international expansion from the airport. But Garuda will inevitably relook at opening international routes at Medan and using it as an alternative to Jakarta for domestic-to-international and even international-to-international connections.

Meanwhile, other Indonesian and foreign carriers will take advantage of a rarity in Indonesia - a spacious airport that is not operating above capacity. LCCs, which already account for over 70% of domestic and international capacity at the new airport, are particularly well positioned given that Medan does not have the business traffic profile of Jakarta.