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View all search resultsJava airports grounded by low demand, poor planning
Experts slammed the lack of infrastructure in Kertajati Airport in West Java, calling it “a symbol of megaproject failure.”
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A general view of Kertajati International Airport, also known as West Java International Airport, in Majalengka, West Java, on December 13, 2019. (Shutterstock/Randy Imanuel)
I
ndonesia has seen several airports on Java Island temporarily cease domestic operations after years of subdued performance, which experts attribute to poor planning and inadequate infrastructure.
Kertajati International Airport in Majalengka, West Java, suspended all domestic routes on June 2. The airport now operates only international flights to Singapore, twice a week.
West Java administration spokesperson Deny Hermawan explained that the suspension was due to limited fleet availability among the five airlines that previously served the airport: Lion Air, Super Air Jet, Citilink, AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines. He added that these carriers had “prioritized serving routes with higher occupancy.”
Opened in 2018, Kertajati is Indonesia’s second-largest airport after Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten. However, unlike the bustling Soekarno-Hatta, Kertajati has seen declining passenger traffic, with the number of international passengers plummeting 81.1 percent year-on-year in May, according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS).
The Transportation Ministry is considering reopening Husein Sastranegara Airport, which is located closer to Bandung, the provincial capital and its most populous city, due to ballooning operational costs of Rp 60 billion (US$3.6 million) per year that the local government must bear to keep Kertajati running.
However, Transportation Minister Dudy Purwagandhi noted that reopening Husein Airport would require further assessment of its potential impacts on Kertajati’s operations.
In the meantime, the government is trying to reposition Kertajati as a departure and arrival hub for haj flights and to transform it into a center for maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services.
