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Airport operators ready for regular audits to improve services

State-owned airport operators PT Angkasa Pura I (AP I) and PT Angkasa Pura II (AP II) are supporting the Transportation Ministry’s plan to audit airports, saying the move will help them improve services at the airports they manage

Nadya Natahadibrata (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sat, February 7, 2015

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Airport operators ready for regular audits to improve services

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tate-owned airport operators PT Angkasa Pura I (AP I) and PT Angkasa Pura II (AP II) are supporting the Transportation Ministry'€™s plan to audit airports, saying the move will help them improve services at the airports they manage.

AP I corporate communications head Handy Heryudhitiawan said that the airport operator, which manages 13 airports in the eastern part of the country, would be ready for a regular audit from the ministry. He added that AP I usually only received annual reviews from the Indonesia National Air Carriers Association (INACA) and Airports Council International (ACI).

'€œWe are basically on the same page with the ministry. Without an audit from the government, we won'€™t be able to improve our service,'€ Handy told The Jakarta Post on Friday. The statement was made after Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan said on Thursday that the airports under the supervision of AP I and AP II were poorly managed.

Handy said that the airport operator inspected the condition of the airport'€™s runway, taxiway and apron on a daily basis, ensuring that all the facilities were safe for operation.

He added that the four airports managed by the firm, namely Juanda International Airport in Surabaya, East Java; Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar, Bali; Sepinggan International Airport in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan; and Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport in Makassar, South Sulawesi, had been annually audited by the ACI.

'€œWe are optimistic that we will receive a good result when the ministry audits our airports,'€ Handy said. '€œWe have already had ACI audit our biggest airports. We'€™re confident that we'€™re already running our airports well,'€ he continued.

Meanwhile, AP II president director Budi Karya Sumadi, appointed to lead the firm last month, admitted there were a lot of problems surrounding airport management.

Budi said the airport operator, which managed 13 airports in the western part of the country, required guidance from the minister to improve.

Jonan previously said that the ministry would soon conduct an assessment of state-owned airport operators AP I and AP II and added that the firms did not manage the commercial airports well.

'€œBoth AP I and AP II do not do their jobs of operating the airports well,'€ the minister told reporters on Thursday, citing that there would be consequences for those airport operators found not to be in compliance with the standards set by the government.

He added that the ministry would soon release the minimum service standards for airports.

The ministry had previously ordered airport operators to remove ticket counters in airports, aiming to improve services at airports and get rid of ticket scalpers.

The letter also instructs airport operators to remove unregistered taxis and ban smoking starting on Feb. 15.

Aviation consultant Gerry Soejatman lauded the move by the ministry and said improvements in airport services were needed.

'€œPeople always put the blame on the airlines when they have delayed flights, for instance, regardless of the fact that the airport is facing overcapacity,'€ Gerry said.

'€œThe audit will reveal what is happening in our airports,'€ he continued.

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