T

he Husein Sastranegara International Airport in Bandung, West Java, has exceeded its passenger capacity but is still favored by a number of airlines to open new flight routes.

West Java Transportation Office head Dicky Saromi said the passenger capacity at the airport was between 800,000 and 900,000 passengers annually, but currently, the number of passengers arriving at the airport had reached more than 1 million.

“Based on infrastructure and facilities, the airport has exceeded its capacity, especially with the presence of new routes,” Dicky said in Bandung on Tuesday.

To overcome the condition, added Dicky, the airport must be expanded in terms of land and air zones.

“Land expansion will be carried out by state-run airport management firm PT Angkasa Pura,” he said.

Husein Sastranegara International Airport PT Angkasa Pura II general manager Eko Diantoro confirmed this overcapacity. According to him, the number of passengers at the airport had reached 1.3 million people annually, compared to its capacity of between 800,000 and 900,000 passengers annually.

To address the condition, added Eko, PT Angkasa Pura II was still waiting for land acquisition from Indonesian Air Force, the airbase of which is currently located east of the passenger terminal.

“We hope that by August or September it could be achieved so we can immediately expand the airport,” said Eko.

 With the expansion of the passenger terminal, the building area of the airport would extend to around 21 square meters. “With the capacity, the airport can serve 3 million passengers annually,” he said.

Despite exceeding its capacity, the airport could still increase the number of flight slots. Eko said that as of June 19, Lion Air had launched new routes from Bandung to Surabaya and Bandung to Denpasar on June 20.

“They will respectively operate each flight daily,” he added.

So far, airlines serving the Bandung-Surabaya route are Merpati, AirAsia, Sriwijaya Air and Garuda Indonesia, while the Bandung-Denpasar route is only served by AirAsia.

Malaysia Airlines, which according to Dicky had earlier terminated the Bandung-Kuala Lumpur route after operating it from July 2010 until October 2011, had expressed its interest in reopening the route. “If I’m not mistaken, Malaysia Airlines will also open a Bandung-Penang route,” he added.

Both routes are currently operated by AirAsia.

To overcome passenger density due to the higher volume of flights, Eko said PT Angkasa Pura II would give a pause of between 30 and 40 minutes between flights.

“We will expand the time slot. The duration between one flight and another will be stretched to prevent overlap,” said Eko.