Jakarta, Sep 30 (IANS): Indonesian authorities have set limit on the number of international passenger arrivals at Soekarno-Hatta airport in Banten province in order to curb the further spread of Covid-19, a government official said on Thursday.

"National and international airlines are expected to meet the policy requirement that they carry 90 passengers at the maximum per flight, so that we can make a tighter control on possible entries of new variants of Covid to Indonesia," Novie Riyanto, the Transportation Ministry's director general for civil aviation, said in a statement.

The restriction took effect on Thursday.

Flight operators are also required to report data on the respective number of Indonesian and foreign passengers on board, according to the official.

Official data showed the daily average number of international passenger arrivals at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport from August to September has risen to 1,500. The figure is set to continue the upward trend.