I

ndonesia will begin construction of the Karawang International Airport in 2015 with a capacity of up to 70 million passengers a year to support the country’s existing main gateway, Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, a senior official said in Jakarta on Friday.

“We need this new airport badly because passengers passing through Soekarno-Hatta International Airport have reached more than 50 million a year,” Transportation Ministry air transportation director general Herry Bhakti Gumay said.

Based on recent ministry data, the traffic of passengers in Soekarno-Hatta reached 51.1 million throughout last year, while the airport’s total capacity was initially only intended to accommodate 22 million passengers.

The new airport will be built on 900 hectares in Karawang, just east of Jakarta, and is expected to commence operations in 2019, he said.

“The construction of this airport will be conducted in phases until it reaches its ultimate capacity after 2019,” he said.

In the first phase, the airport, which is projected to cost about Rp 10 trillion (US1.09 billion), is set to accommodate 20 million passengers.

Based on the master plan, the airport will have four runways and two terminals, he said.

Even though the airport was not part of the Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesian Economic Development (MP3EI) program, Herry said that the government would speed up the construction of the airport in order to help ease the load at Soekarno-Hatta.

“We are going to construct the airport through a public-private partnership scheme,” he added.

The government has allotted Rp 32 trillion ($3.48 billion) for 14 airport construction and expansion projects in the country through the MP3EI program.

In addition to the Kuala Namu International Airport in Medan, North Sumatra, which will begin operation next year, Kertajati International Airport in Majalengka, West Java was part of the MP3EI air transportation projects.

State owned airport operator Angkasa Pura I (AP I) will construct the Kertajati airport at a projected cost of Rp 8.29 trillion ($903.61 million).

AP I commercial director Robert Waloni said that the company would sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the West Java provincial government next week.

“This airport will replace Husein Sastranegara Airport in Bandung,” Robert told The Jakarta Post.

The construction of the airport is very important because Husein Sastranegara Airport is no longer capable of accommodating further expansion due to its location in the center of Bandung.

“We have studied the market for this airport and we see huge potential,” he said.

The Kertajati project is expected to enter the tender process in the middle of this year and construction will begin in 2014.

Similar with Karawang, this airport will accommodate 20 million passengers per year in its first phase of construction and its ultimate capacity is expected to be 70 million passengers.

He said that investors from China and India will be involved in the construction. (nfo)