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Komodo to become international airport by June
Dragon’s gate: Komodo Airport in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara, the main gateway to one of Indonesia’s tourism hotspots, will become an international airport in June, earlier than the government’s initial target of 2021
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ragon’s gate: Komodo Airport in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara, the main gateway to one of Indonesia’s tourism hotspots, will become an international airport in June, earlier than the government’s initial target of 2021. (JP/Wienda Parwitasari)
Komodo Airport in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), the main entryway to one of Indonesia’s tourism hot spots, will become an international airport in June, earlier than the government’s initial plan for 2021.
“We agreed to make it [an international airport] faster. Hopefully, the investors will be serious in developing the airport,” said Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi on Friday on the sidelines of the signing of an agreement between Komodo Airport’s developers.
PT Cinta Airport Flores (CAF), a business consortium 80 percent owned by publicly listed local aviation services company Cardig Aero Services and 20 percent owned by Singapore’s Changi Airports International, will be responsible for the development of Komodo Airport.
The Cardig-Changi business consortium has allocated Rp 1.2 trillion (US$88 million) to develop Komodo Airport. By becoming an international airport, Komodo Airport will have customs and border-control facilities to serve international flights.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has included Labuan Bajo in his administration’s “super-priority” tourist destinations, a program aimed at boosting tourism’s contribution to the economy and diversifying tourists from densely packed Bali. Apart from Labuan Bajo, the tourism hot spots include Danau Toba, Borobudur Temple, Mandalika and Likupang. The government has allocated funds of Rp 10.17 trillion from the 2020 state budget to develop the super priority destinations.
The Transportation Ministry signed the agreement with Cinta Airport Flores on Friday to develop Komodo Airport under a public-private partnership scheme. The business consortium holds a 25-year concession on the airport, during which it can build, finance, operate and maintain the facility prior to transferring it back to the government.
“The purpose of this cooperation is clear, that is, to get Komodo Airport an operator who has competence and the ability to professionally manage Komodo Airport at an international standard through several developments to improve the airport’s performance and service,” said Novie Riyanto, the ministry’s director general of civil aviation.
Several development projects will be carried out in the near future, including an extension of the airport’s runway from 2,250 to 2,750 meters and the reinforcement of its structure. Extension of the apron, renovation of the existing passenger terminal and the construction of new domestic and international terminals will also be undertaken.
The development of Komodo Airport is expected to dramatically increase its capacity from 720,000 passengers to 4 million passengers per year. Cargo capacity is also expected to reach 3,500 tons yearly by 2044.
Cinta Airport Flores president director Iman Oloan Sjafar said the development of Komodo Airport would be carried out in several phases. With a longer runway as the first phase of development, the airport is expected to be able to accommodate direct flights from Australia, Hong Kong and China, among others.
“Basically the development will be suited to the government’s initiative [to make Labuan Bajo] a premium destination. The concept is more modern, and we will finalize the detailed concept later,” said Iman.
Labuan Bajo serves as a tourism gateway to Komodo National Park, which is a 1.5-hour ride to the west by speedboat and is internationally known for its rare Komodo dragons. The airport provides access to other places in Flores and across NTT as well.
Recently, officials developed a plan to turn Komodo National Park into a premium destination with an entrance fee of about $1,000 per person per year.
Komodo Island saw about 176,000 tourist arrivals in 2018, a fourfold increase from 2010. Of this figure, 75 percent were foreign arrivals.
"Hopefully, the renovated and developed Komodo Airport can attract more foreign tourists to Labuan Bajo. This development is important to support Labuan Bajo tourism in the future," said Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Wishnutama Kusubandio.
