Fraught with recent mishaps at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, the government has moved to speed up a program to revamp the biggest flight-gateway into the capital.
With an estimated budget of Rp 1 trillion (US$111 million), it expects to upgrade the airport with better technological support and merge air traffic control systems across the archipelago into one system.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa said most of the budget would go toward navigational equipment, which would include a new air traffic control radar.
Hatta said procurement would begin this year and was expected to be completed next year, instead of 2013 as previously stated.
The government plans to provide around Rp 150 billion of the total cost, while the remainder would be financed by state airport operator Angkasa Pura II and partners, he said.
Hatta said the existing air traffic control system at Soekarno-Hatta, which was installed in 1985, was obsolete and was designed to handle up to 600 movements a day, far below current traffic that could reach 2,000 movements per day.
On Sunday, nine aircraft were forced to wait for 20 minutes on runways and 15 others had to queue before take-off. The incident worsened the airport’s image that had previously been tainted by cut phone lines and a string of blackouts.
Air Transportation director general Herry Bakti said air traffic control incident on Sunday was an anomaly in aviation. The JATS radar system had been upgraded in 1996, he said, acknowledging that it needed to be replaced.
On Aug. 6, the airport suffered the worst blackout in its history, resulting in the cancellation of 62 flights. As a result, the government assigned state power company PT PLN to take over the management of power at the airport from Angkasa Pura.
Hatta said that after its completion in 2011 the new air traffic control systems would be more reliable and integrated with air traffic systems at airports in the eastern part of Indonesia, which currently falls under the management of Angkasa Pura I.
Hatta added that the government was considering the establishment of a regulation body to handle
the Indonesia’s air traffic. The air traffic control systems of PT Angkasa Pura I and II would also be consolidated into one body as of Jan 1, 2011, as mandated by the 2009 Law on Aviation.
Any new air traffic systems in Indonesia would now be managed with a single system, he said.
“[The two air traffic systems] will be merged into a single network that will be more focused on handling flight information,” he said, mentioning that the regulatory body should be established by the end of 2010. (ebf)
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