The Transportation Ministry has issued circular 74/2021 concerning guidelines for the implementation of international travel by air during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Acting Head of the Soekarno-Hatta Regional I Airport Authority Office Y. Gandoz said the aim of the circular was to improve the implementation of health protocols for international passengers.
“In principle, it is to prevent an increase in COVID-19 transmission, including the new SARS-CoV-2 virus variant which has mutated into the alpha, beta, delta, gamma, and MU variants (B.1.621) as well as the potential for the development of other new variants,” said Gandoz.
To implement the provisions of circular number 74/2021, stakeholders have established a new procedure for international arrivals at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. The changes took effect at midnight on 19th September 2021.
Head of the Soekarno-Hatta Class I Port Health Office Darmawali Handoko reminded international passengers to follow the new health protocols.
“International passengers arriving at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport must undergo three PCR tests. First, in the country of origin, the second one at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, then the third at the quarantine location,” he said.
Moreover, Soekarno-Hatta International Airport Executive General Manager Agus Haryadi said that all stakeholders at the airport would coordinate to implement the new procedure.
“Based on the coordination that has been carried out by all stakeholders, a number of checkpoints have been set up to carry out the new procedure for the arrival of international passengers at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport,” said Agus.
With the implementation of the rules, airport authorities have established a number of checkpoints as below.
Checkpoint 1
Indonesian and foreign arrivals from overseas who land at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport will go to a holding area after deplaning. Here, they will wait for data collection, according to the criteria stated in the Head of the COVID-19 Handling Task Force’s decree number 11/2021 (migrant workers, students, government employees), and data collection for Indonesian citizens and other travellers in accordance with the provisions outside the criteria for the decision of the Task Force Chair.
Checkpoint 2
All passengers will then head to the health document verification area, carried out by the Port Health Office personnel from the Health Ministry. The documents to be verified are:
- Vaccination cards
- International e-HAC forms
- COVID-19 PCR test results from the country of origin
And other documents as required in circular 74/2021. At this point, the Port Health Officer personnel will also confirm quarantine locations.
Checkpoint 3
All passengers will then undergo a PCR test in a booth located at the international arrivals area of Terminal 3 Soekarno-Hatta Airport. The COVID-19 test service will be carried out by health service providers.
Checkpoint 4
All passengers will undergo the Immigration and Customs and Excise process.
Checkpoint 5
Passengers head to the holding area to prepare for quarantine under the supervision of the Air Task Force personnel handling COVID-19. PCR test results will also be handed out to passengers at this point.
Checkpoint 6
Passengers go to the collection points for buses provided by their quarantine location. The implementation at this point is assisted by the Soekarno-Hatta Airport Police.