State airport operator PT Angkasa Pura (AP) I says it expects to finish Rp 6
tate airport operator PT Angkasa Pura (AP) I says it expects to finish Rp 6.4 trillion (US$678.4 million) worth of development projects at three major airports by next year.
The expansion of Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar, Bali; Sepinggan Airport in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan; and Juanda International Airport in Surabaya, East Java, would be finished by the mid-2013, Angkasa Pura I president director Tommy Soetomo said.
“Airport expansion is crucial to cope with severe congestion and to support economic development in the nation,” Tommy told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
Each of the airports has been operating at over 100 percent capacity, according to the Transportation Ministry.
Sepinggan Airport, for instance, accommodated 5.1 million passengers in 2011, three times its current maximum capacity of 1.7 million passengers a year.
AP I has begun construction of a new terminal at Sepinggan Airport on 110,000 square meters to increase the airport’s annual passenger capacity to 11 million.
AP I also intends to extend the airport’s runway from 2,500 meter to 3,250 meter.
In Surabaya, the firm has expanded Terminal 2 at Juanda to boost the airport’s annual passenger capacity by 71 percent to 12 million, which is still short of the 14 million passengers expected to pass through the airport this year.
Land acqusition has been major issue hindering airport expansions, Tommy added.
Tommy said that expansion of Ngurah Rai airport would be a priority as Bali would host the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the end of 2013.
“We plan to finish the expansion of Ngurah Rai’s international terminal in May 2013, because it should be ready before the APEC summit,” he said.
AP I spent Rp 2.7 trillion to increase the capacity of Ngurah Rai airport from 9 million to 25 million passengers a year and also built a new apron that can accommodate up to 20 wide-bodied aircraft such as the Boeing B747.
“As one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations, Bali needs infrastructure to support its growth,” Tommy added.
AP I has also set aside Rp 80 billion to build a terminal for private aircraft passengers at Ngurah Rai, partnering with ExecuJet Aviation Group, a leading global business aviation organization in Zurich, Switzerland.
The construction of the VIP terminal is expected to be complete by year end, according to Tommy.
AP I currently manages 13 airports across the archipelago, including Lombok International Airport in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara; Ahmad Yani Airport in Semarang, Central Java; Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport in Makassar, South Sulawesi; and Sam Ratulangi Airport in Manado, North Sulawesi.
In the first quarter of 2012, the company’s passenger numbers increased 15 percent, reaching 14.58 million passengers, up from 12.68 million in the same period last year.
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