S

tate airport operator Angkasa Pura 1 is planning to build a new airport in Yogyakarta, as Adisutjipto International Airport cannot accommodate surging passenger traffic, a senior official said in Jakarta on Thursday.

Angkasa Pura 1 finance director Robert Waloni said that a feasibility study on the new airport was finished and forwarded to the Transportation Ministry to get permission to start construction.

“We are now working on the master plan for the new airport that is projected to be finished within three months,” Robert said on the sidelines of meeting where representatives of Angkasa Pura 1, Angkasa Pura 2, the Transportation Ministry’s Air Transportation Directorate General and state insurance firm PT Jasa Raharja signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU).

Robert said that the company was collaborating with India’s GVK Power and Infrastructure to compile the feasibility study and master plan.

The company was considering two options for the new airport: Temon in Kulonprogo regency and Sanden in Bantul regency, he added.

After finishing the plan and getting needed permits from regulators, the firm said it would start the construction.

The new airport will be able to accommodate 6 million passengers a year and operate two runways
after it opens in 2015.

The first stage of construction calls for the construction of a 5,400-meter runaway that could accommodate large aircraft, such as the Boeing B747, he said.

Angkasa Pura 1 would need Rp 1.2 trillion (US$130.8 million) to build the airport, he added.

Separately, Transportation Ministry’s airport chief Ignatius Bambang Tjahjono said that construction of a new airport for Yogyakarta would require 700 hectares.

“The completion of the new airport will depend on the operator. After we issue a permit, land acquisition will start,” Bambang said.

According to the Transportation Ministry, Adisutjipto International Airport serves more than 3.5 million passengers a year, much higher than its maximum design capacity of 1.5 million.

Angkasa Pura 1 booked Rp 655 billion in net profits at the end of 2011, a 17.06 percent increase from Rp 559 billion in 2010, Robert said.

Moreover, the firm’s revenue rose 23.37 percent to Rp 3 trillion in 2011, up from Rp 2.47 trillion in the previous year.

“We expect a 20 percent increase in revenue this year, from Rp 3 trillion to Rp 3.6 trillion,” the firm’s president director, Tommy Sutomo, said.

Angkasa Pura 1 manages 13 airports across the country such as Juanda International Airport in Surabaya, East Java; Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali; Sultan Hassanudin International Airport in Makassar, South Sulawesi; Sam Ratulangi Airport in Manado, North Sulawesi; and the newly opened Lombok International Airport in Lombok. (nfo)