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Kuabang airport expanded to serve 160,000 travelers annually
The airport is expected to serve as a gateway to local tourist destinations such as Kupa Kupa Beach and as a cargo shipment center for gold miner PT Nusa Halmahera Minerals.
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uabang Airport in North Halmahera, North Maluku, has reopened after the addition of a 3,500 square meter passenger terminal, which has increased its capacity to 160,000 airline passengers yearly.
The airport is expected to serve as a gateway to local tourist destinations such as Kupa Kupa Beach and as a cargo shipment center for gold miner PT Nusa Halmahera Minerals.
“Alhamdulillah [thank God] the passenger terminal is ready to use. We hope to see new sources of economic growth around this airport,” President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said during the inauguration ceremony on Wednesday.
He also hoped the airport would resume the two regular flights it had prior to the pandemic and even add a third flight “once the situation was back to normal”.
Fewer Indonesians are flying because of the government’s COVID-19 mobility restrictions. Domestic flight passengers fell 62.88 percent year-on-year (yoy) to 2.34 million in January, according to data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS).
“People in eastern Indonesia have the same right to have good airports and roads, so these infrastructure developments are part of providing justice for all,” Jokowi added.
The government has been seeking to revive tourism and develop supporting infrastructure in eastern Indonesia. Last week, it inaugurated two new airports in South Sulawesi and East Nusa Tenggara.
Read also: New Tana Toraja, Pantar airports launched to boost travel in eastern Indonesia
The Kubang terminal expansion project began in 2017 with a Rp 300 billion (US$20.77 million) budget, according to Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi. The airport has a 2,000 m runway and a 157 m ramp that can accommodate three ATR planes and one Boeing.
“This airport can bring pride to the people of North Maluku,” he said. “The airport is completely sufficient to increase connectivity, tourism and other economic activity in the province.”
Kubang airport is located 85 km from North Maluku’s capital of Sofifi. Budi said the airport would serve as an alternative to Sultan Babullah airport in Ternate, an island close to Sofifi, as the airport, near two active volcanoes, Mount Gamalama and Mount Dukono, often experienced disruptions.
He also suggested widening the road from Sofifi to Kubang airport to improve access.
