I

n a move to increase the runway capacity of the country'€™s main gateway, Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta, state flight navigation service Airnav and state airport operator Angkasa Pura II have teamed up with the UK'€™s National Air Traffic Services (NATS).

NATS will help Airnav prepare a system to increase the capacity of Soekarno-Hatta'€™s existing runway from 72 flights to 86 flights per hour, according to Airnav president director Bambang Tjahjono.

'€œThe cooperation value reaches £804,000 [US$1.22 million], which includes an IT system as well as consultancy services and training sessions for both Airnav and AP II personnel,'€ Bambang told reporters after the signing ceremony on Wednesday.

'€œWe will see whether we are able to increase the runway capacity to 86 flights per hour this year, but it will depend on our readiness,'€ he continued.

British Ambassador to Indonesia Moazzam Malik explained that NATS oversaw all UK'€™s airports, including one of the world'€™s busiest airports, Heathrow in London.

'€œBased on our experience, this agreement will offer that know-how, that knowledge, that technique and skill to Indonesia, Soekarno-Hatta, Airnav and AP II. Through that cooperation, we can help Indonesia to develop more effective control to increase revenues by increasing capacity effectively in Soekarno Hatta, but also to build a reputation,'€ Malik said.

Soekarno-Hatta is the 10th-busiest airport in the world in terms of passenger traffic, according to the 2013 Airports Council International (ACI) world airport traffic report.

Heathrow is the world'€™s third-busiest, according to the report and like Soekarno-Hatta has only two runways, but can serve around 100 flights per hour.

Meanwhile, AP II president director Budi Karya said that the firm would begin the construction of the east cross taxiway linking the north and south runways next year, aiming to significantly increase the airport'€™s runway capacity.

The firm, he added, would also begin to acquire land needed to construct the airport'€™s third runway this year, expecting to begin the construction next year.

A third runway is crucial with AP II data showing that the annual number of passengers at Soekarno-Hatta reached 60.13 million in 2013, nearly three times its annual capacity of 22 million passengers.

According to Budi, the third runway will increase the capacity of the overburdened airport to more than 60 million passengers per year.

'€œWe need to learn from NATS to apply a similar system to the one they run at Heathrow to improve our service and performance both at airports we currently operate and at our future airports,'€ Budi said.