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.
Challenges for Indonesian airport development: Is PPP an answer?
The issue of nonperforming airports raises a question about planning, including feasibility studies regarding the outlook of traffic demand and the economic multiplier impact.
Change Size
Tourists disembark from an aircraft serving the Surabaya-Banyuwangi route at Blimbingsari Airport in Rogojampi, Banyuwangi, on Dec.9, 2016. (JP/Wahyoe Boediwardhana)
As a vast archipelagic country, Indonesia requires a reliable transportation system to run an efficient logistics sector and facilitate connectivity between its islands. Air transportation, besides sea and land, is one of the most suitable modes.
Enhanced air connectivity through air transportation links is essential for economic growth because it facilitates access to the region for business, culture and tourism, as well as physical access to resources and markets. There are expansions of domestic and regional trade which requires air logistics – not merely with pioneer routes around Papua.
According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, there are now around 340 airports and airfields across the country. Of that total, 32 airports are classified as international airports and the rest are classified into class I, class II, class III or work units.
Not all airports can operate effectively. Jenderal Besar Soedirman Airport in Purbalingga, Central Java, Ngloram Airport in Blora, Central Java, and Kertajati Airport in Majalengka, West Java, are examples of state-funded airports that operate far below capacity due to lack of traffic.
Banyuwangi Airport at the easternmost tip of Java brings another story of a poorly performing facility. The airport’s terminal won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2022, and it is deemed as an Indonesian green airport. However, the traffic to this airport does not match its architectural achievement. Dependence on subsidies is an issue, and the Banyuwangi-Jakarta-Kuala Lumpur international route has failed to sustain it.
Immigration facilities are available there, serving especially Indonesian migrant workers. In fact, Banyuwangi is a major migrant worker supplying region.
