TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsBandung mayor urges govt to reopen Husein Sastranegara Airport
Bandung Mayor Muhammad Farhan has argued that many travelers from Bandung prefer to fly from Jakarta’s Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport rather than go to Kertajati International Airport in Majalengka, after Husein Sastranegara Airport’s closure in 2023.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Husein Sastranegara Airport in Bandung, West Java, is pictured virtually deserted after flights from the airport were relocated to the newly opened Kertajati International Airport in Majalengka. (kompas.com/Reni Susanti)
T
he mayor of Bandung, West Java, Muhammad Farhan has urged the government to reopen Husein Sastranegara Airport, arguing that its closure to commercial flights in 2023 had dealt a blow to the city’s economy and tourism.
He criticized the decision to divert passengers to Kertajati International Airport in Majalengka, West Java, about 100 kilometers to the east, calling it inefficient. Many travelers, he noted, now prefer to fly from Jakarta’s Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport instead.
“What needs to be done now is to quickly reopen Husein Sastranegara. Because by doing so, the tourist sector in Bandung city will be revived,” he said on Thursday, as quoted in a press release.
Farhan claimed that Bandung had the largest flight market in West Java province, and that the decision to close an airport serving people from Bandung and its surrounding areas “does not make any sense”.
The mayor also drew attention to the financial burden faced by the West Java provincial government due to operational losses from Kertajati, which amount to more than Rp 60 billion (US$3.6 million) each year. According to him, the real losses may even be greater than what has been reported.
“I truly appreciate the governor [of West Java, Dedi Mulyadi,] who has held intensive discussions with us since February, there has been a serious effort to optimize Kertajati. But it seems even he is starting to feel cornered,” he said.
Farhan pointed out that closing Husein Sastranegara Airport had caused “interregional economic inequality”, as West Java is missing out on potential economic benefits from travelers who have shifted their air travel to Jakarta.
