Big Agenda for Indonesian Airports in 2015

BANDUNG, October 29 (EngineeringDaily) -- The Indonesian Ministry of Transportation plans to build and expand dozens of airports in eastern Indonesia, particularly in the border areas and disaster-prone areas, in the year 2015. The aim is to open up access to remote areas and help increase the capacity of existing airports that are already too congested.

Of the existing airports, about 16 large airports will receive extra funds for further development. These airports include: Kertajati Airport in West Java, which will receive Rp 100 billion; Anambas Airport and Tambelan Airport in the Riau Islands, with Rp 125.1 billion and Rp 103.7 billion respectively; Rp 81.3 billion for Siau Airport in North Sulawesi Province; Rp 91.3 billion for Bandara Tebelian in West Kalimantan Province; Rp 100 billion for Binaka Airport on Nias Island in North Sumatra; and Rp 354 billion for Tjilik Riwut Airport in Central Kalimantan Province.

The Ministry will also build new pioneering airports with the added goal of supporting tourism, such as the new airport planned for Tambrauw Werur in West Papua. The total budget for this airport’s construction is Rp 36 billion.

In addition to building and expanding, the Ministry will also perform maintenance on 103 of the country’s other airports. A budget of Rp 3.3 trillion has been set aside for this purpose.

Acting Director General of Air Transport for the Ministry of Transportation, Santoso Eddy Wibowo, said the government has allocated a grand total of Rp 6.2 trillion to fund all of these projects, consisting of funds derived from the savings of the business travel and meetings budget. The amount of the budget could increase to Rp 10 trillion if coupled with other development allocations.

By Ismail Al Anshori