I

ndonesia'€™s largest private airline, the Lion Group '€” owned by politically wired Rusdi Kirana '€” is planning to take over the management of and give a face-lift to Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in East Jakarta, which is currently managed by state airport operator PT Angkasa Pura II (AP II).

Lion has assigned state-owned construction company PT Adhi Karya to develop Halim into a modern international airport with the capacity for 12 million passengers per year, the airline'€™s general affairs director Edward Sirait said on Tuesday.

Work on the US$436 million airport expansion project will start in November on the existing terminal, which was only recently renovated by AP II.

Halim previously served as a non-commercial airport for state visits or military exercises. Only in January this year did Halim begin commercial operations, with Garuda Indonesia'€™s subsidiary, low-cost carrier Citilink, being the first commercial airline to arrive and depart from the airport.

'€œWe are here with PT Adhi Karya to announce our plan to develop Halim Perdanakusuma Airport and its facilities, including the taxi ways, aprons and garbarata [airbridges],'€ Edward said.

The expansion is expected to be completed in July next year, when the Lion Group will officially take over the management of the airport.

'€œThe development is aimed at increasing the capacity of the airport, as well as at improving facilities for the passengers,'€ he added.

Halim would be transformed into an international airport for full-service airlines only, so Citilink would have to adjust.

'€œFor instance, we will probably charge Rp 125,000 [$10.24] for the airport tax. The price will probably fit only with a particular segment of the airline industry,'€ he said, explaining that the company would only operate the group'€™s full-service airline, Batik Air, at the airport.

The Transportation Ministry had previously said that relocating flights to Halim was only a temporary solution to deal with airline congestion until the capacity of the country'€™s main gateway Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, was increased. The Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) considered Halim unfit to be a commercial airport with heavy traffic because passengers using the airport would exacerbate the already congested streets of the capital city.

Lion Group'€™s owner Rusdi Kirana resigned from his CEO post at Lion Air earlier this year to focus on the busy election year since he was appointed as deputy chairman of the National Awakening Party (PKB), which supported president-elect Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo. Jokowi, the Jakarta governor, had earlier shown support for the reopening of Halim for commercial flights.

The Lion Group and the Air Force'€™s cooperative, Inkopau, formed a joint venture back in 2004, in which the airline controls an 80 percent stake and the remainder is owned by the latter.

The 21-hectare plot of land at the airport is owned by the Air Force and the Lion Group has secured a 25-year contract to operate it. This agreement became effective in 2006, Edward explained. '€œJust to be clear, we are not violating any laws here. We are just following the agreement signed years ago,'€ he stressed.

AP II, however, was not informed of the Lion Group'€™s expansion plans.

'€œAP II was assigned by the government to operate the airport and until now we still hold the assignment,'€ corporate secretary Daryanto said.

'€œLet'€™s just see whether in November the Lion Group can actually begin construction or not.'€

The transportation Ministry'€™s air directorate general spokesman Israful Hayat said that Law No. 1/2009 on flight services authorized a private firm to operate a commercial airport, but the ministry had not yet issued the ministerial regulation allowing one to do so.