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Govt to speed up new Yogyakarta airport
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Adi Soetjipto airport in Yogyakarta, pictured above, serves 3.5 million passengers per year, while its capacity is 1.5 million passengers. (Courtesy of/http://adisutjipto-airport.co.id/)
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span style="letter-spacing: 0.1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The government is to speed up the construction of Yogyakarta's new international airport in Kulon Progo regency, which is currently delayed by a protracted land-clearing process.
Presiden Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said the construction of a new airport in Yogyakarta was imperative given the fact that the existing Adi Soetjipto airport, with a capacity of 1.5 million passengers per year, was currently seeing traffic of 3.5 million passengers per year.
"I expect the new airport to be planned carefully, not only for 5 to 10 years ahead, but for 30 to 50 years to come, and integrated with other modes of transportation, both bus and train," the President said before a limited meeting at the State Palace on Monday.
Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said the government had decided to immediately proceed the construction of the airport. "In principle, if the appraisal complete by June 14, the president will be able to immediately decide the construction mechanism. The point is, the airport will be built," he said.
Yogyakarta Governor Hamengkubuwono said the local government was still undergoing the land appraisal to decide the land value. "The dialogue with the people around the project must be done by June 14 to ascertain the land price per meter," he said.
Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan added that the ministry would discuss with airport authority Angkasa Pura I and the local government on the scale of development. According to Jonan, the project does not require huge amounts of land as it is to be built near Adi Soemarmo airport in Surakarta, Central Java.
"Unlike the Soekarno Hatta airport [that serves Jakarta], it won’t need 1,000 hectares of land, but will be adjusted to the wishes of people living in the region, the feasibility study and the safety of the flight operations," he said. (ags)
