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PX Warehouse, a subsidiary of local cargo service provider RPX Group, predicts 35 percent business growth next year, this follows the expansion of facilities at the country’s main gateway Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng, Banten, just west of Jakarta.

RPX Group senior vice president for business development Taufick D. Mochtar said the additional facilities would help increase the handling capacity of cargo from 8,000 tons to 11,500 tons monthly.

“The expansion of our facility is driven by the robust growth of the aviation industry in Indonesia. This growth has created high demand in the cargo sector and we would like to tap into this demand,” Taufick said on the sidelines of the groundbreaking of the new warehouse on Tuesday.

The warehouse, built on a 5,000-square-meter plot of land with a 3,000-square-meter floor area, was made possible with an investment of US$5 million. The construction is set to finish in March 2013 and to commence operations on April 1, he said.

“In the future, we plan to expand our cargo facilities in Jakarta to 20,000 tons a month,” he said.

Currently, the firm operates two warehouse facilities at the airport.

He said that the expansion would take place in Soekarno-Hatta’s new cargo village, which is set to open in 2015.

State-owned airport operator Angkasa Pura II (AP II) is undergoing a face-lift at the country’s first international airport by expanding its passenger terminal capacity from 22 million to 62 million a year, while its cargo capacity would be increased from 500,000 tons to 1.5 million tons annually.

AP II plans to invest Rp 7.6 trillion (US$790.4 million) in the massive expansion.

In addition, he said that they planned to expand cargo facilities in eastern parts of Indonesia such as Makassar, South Sulawesi and Manado, North Sulawesi.

“We plan to expand our business in more cities with growing cargo demand and collaborate with the large players in the aviation and cargo industry,” he added.

He said that RPX has collaborated with the country’s largest low cost carrier Lion Air, Japan Airlines (JAL) and FedEx Express (FedEx), a subsidiary of FedEx Corp, the world’s largest express transportation company.

The company is currently engaged in communications with other companies that are expected to collaborate with RPX in the future.

He declined to elaborate on the possible new partners.

Moreover, he said that the RPX Group has allocated $50 million in investment for 2011 to 2015 fiscal year to help expand its business.

Besides warehouses, he said the company would expand its cargo business through shipments and the door-to-door package service. According to research and consultant firm Frost & Sullivan, Indonesia’s air cargo volume is expected to increase by 5.7 percent this year to 920,000 tons from 870,000 tons last year.