T

he country'€™s main gateway, Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, will be increasing the frequency of flights from 64 to 72 per hour, starting on June 26, in a bid to reduce congestion at the airport.

State-owned airport operator Angkasa Pura (AP) II, which manages airports in the western half of the country, is collaborating with the newly established state-owned Indonesian Flight Navigation Service (AirNav Indonesia) to increase the flight frequency to meet growing air travel demand.

AP II president director Tri Sunoko said the move was expected to lessen the number of delayed flights at the country'€™s busiest airport.

'€œWith the increase in frequency to 72 flights per hour, we hope the number of delayed departures and arrivals will be reduced so we can improve our level of service to customers,'€ Tri said in a written statement made available to The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

According to the statement, the additional flights will be offered for three different flight slots: after midnight (between 12 a.m. and 1:30 a.m.), from 2 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and from 11:30 p.m. to midnight.

The number of flights between 1:30 a.m. and 2 a.m. will be limited to 54 per hour. Between 10:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., the airport will cater for 64 flights per hour, due to a greater risk of limited visibility in the afternoon.

Tri said that AP II had improved traffic signs in 19 spots to help smooth the increased flight frequency.

According to AirNav Indonesia, the increase in runway capacity was achieved by optimizing runway occupancy time both during takeoffs and landings. The maximum occupancy time during takeoff has been reduced to 90 seconds from the previous 110 seconds, while the occupancy time during landings has also been reduced from 65 to 50 seconds.

Separately, Coordinating Economic Minister Chairul Tanjung said the airport was expected to see an increase in frequency to 86 flights per hour by June next year, as one of the government'€™s 15 priority infrastructure projects.

He said the government was currently focusing on increasing the flight frequency on the airports'€™ two runways rather than initiating the construction of a third runway, as the latter option would require substantial funding and take some time to complete.

'€œWe want to increase the airport'€™s capacity in the most efficient and effective way, and constructing a third runway is not an option as it would require a lot of funds,'€ Chairul said, adding that construction of a third runway would be left to the next administration to decide.

The budget needed just to clear the land for a 3,660 meter by 60 meter runway would be Rp 4 trillion (US$330.85 million).

An increase of Soekarno-Hatta'€™s capacity is crucial as AP II data shows the number of passengers passing through the airport last year totaled 60.13 million, nearly three times its annual capacity of 22 million passengers.

Soekarno-Hatta serves around 1,200 flights daily, placing it among the 10 busiest airports worldwide, according to International Airport Council data in 2013.