Among the airports set to get a makeover are airports in Denpasar, Bali; Surakarta and Semarang in Central Java; Manado, North Sulawesi; Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan; Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara; and Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara.

Angkasa Pura I corporate secretary Israwadi said Rp 4.2 trillion from the capex would be used to purchase 580 hectares of land for the New Yogyakarta International Airport (NYIA), targeted for a preliminary opening in April 2019.

“As instructed by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, we’ll have the preliminary opening for the airport in April 2019,” he said recently.

The amount should have been paid out last year, but due to land disputes, the disbursement was delayed. As of today, 97 percent of the land has been acquired and the remaining 3 percent is still being settled in court.

The airport will replace the Adi Soetjipto Airport, which is too small to accommodate growing tourist numbers.

Angkasa Pura I will soon announce its selection of partners to build the new airport.

“The tender is closed now. We’re going to announce the partners before Idul Fitri so we can do a groundbreaking ceremony soon after the holiday,” he said, adding that those who joined in the tender were all state-run construction companies.

“The partners will build and own the airport for a minimum of seven years and then we’ll buy it back at the end of the period,” Israwadi said.

The NYIA building and facilities are worth about Rp 6.7 trillion, 70 percent of which will be funded by the partners and the remaining 30 percent by Angkasa Pura I. The new airport is designed to accommodate 14 million passengers a year.

As for the general revamp projects, Israwadi said they were part of the government’s efforts to achieve the target of attracting 20 million foreign tourists by 2019. Last year, the country attracted 11.52 million foreign tourists.

Aside from Yogyakarta, the airport in Bali will see 11 new aprons, or aircraft parking lots, complement the existing 55 aprons. Around Rp 2.5 trillion is needed for the revamp, but only Rp 1 trillion will be allocated from the capex in 2017.

“The construction of the aprons is costly because it involves some land reclamation. We’re preparing data, research and design to get necessary permits like the Amdal [environmental impact analysis] from the local administration to start construction this year,” Israwadi said.

The additional aprons will enable the airport to accommodate 25 million passengers a year in the near future from 17 million today.

Another airport being redeveloped is Adi Soemarmo Airport in Surakarta, the President’s hometown. The master renovation design is already complete. The company is now in the process of selecting contractors to start construction.

In line with this, the Transportation Ministry and train operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia are designing a light rapid transit (LRT) line to connect the airport with the city center.

Out of the Rp 8.5 trillion capex, Rp 4 trillion will be sourced from internal cash, Rp 3.4 trillion from existing syndicated loan facility and Rp 1.1 trillion from bond issuance last December.

Angkasa Pura I president director Danang S. Baskoro said that in a bid to support the government’s goal of attracting 20 million tourists, the company would try to revamp some airports serving destinations in the “10 New Balis” category by 2019.

The company plans to buy the Transportation Ministry’s Komodo Airport in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara, which is one of the government’s 10 priority destinations.

“We’ll revamp the airport and make it into a world class airport,” he said.

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