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India, Saudi Arabia offered stakes in Kertajati airport
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Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi checks readiness at Kertajati Airport, Majalengka, West Java, on Jan. 3, 2020.
(Antara/Dedhez Anggara)
T
he government is offering India and Saudi Arabia a chance to purchase stakes in Kertajati International Airport, also known as West Java International Airport (BIJB), in a move to boost the under-used facility.
Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi told reporters that if both countries took up the offer, it would dilute the BIJB ownership of both the central government and West Java provincial administration, which both are willing to accept.
“India and Saudi Arabia are interested in purchasing stakes in Kertajati,” Budi said on Tuesday. “Hopefully, this will increase interest from the international community and will spur connectivity in Kertajati,” he added.
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Since the beginning of its operation in 2018, Kertajati airport has experienced many setbacks, as there are few flights to and from the airport with many regarding the location as too distant and lacking in transportation access.
The Rp 4.9 trillion (US$327.2 million) West Java airport was initially designed to reduce congestion at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in Jakarta and Soekarno Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, but to no avail.
Many efforts to jumpstart the airport included shifting domestic flights from Husein Sastranegara International Airport, building the Cisumdawu toll road, redirecting umrah (minor haj) flights to Kertajati and planning the airport as a maintenance hub.
The government later planned to utilize the airport alongside nearby Patimban Deep Sea Port to enhance the region’s logistics chain.
“To Saudi Arabia, we also made a special request for them to allocate more direct flights to Kertajati,” Budi said.
Read also: Kertajati set to serve flights by end of year, experts remain unconvinced
Aside from Kertajati, the government also offered India the operation of Kuala Tanjung Port in North Sumatra, Budi said, adding an Indian private company was also keen to take up the offer, as the port acted as one of many important gateways for coal and crude palm oil (CPO) shipments that the South Asian country needed.
The government also extended investment offers to other sectors in land and railway transportation, hoping to repeat the success it achieved with South Korea and Japan, but Budi said those offers had so far only been responded to well by India.
South Korea and Japan have also committed to extending their investment in the mass rapid transit (MRT) and light rail transit (LRT) in Jakarta with both signing an agreement with the government during the Group of 20 Summit in Bali in November.
