Friday, August 3, 2012

SOEKARNO-HATTA EXPANSION TO BOOST INVESTMENT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH: PRESIDENT By Fardah

Jakarta, Aug 3, 2012 (ANTARA) - A major-scale expansion project of the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Indonesia`s main international airport and the 12th busiest airport in the world was inaugurated by President Soesilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday.

The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by among others Vice President Boediono.  The renovation, which is expected to be completed in 2014, should help increase the airport`s passenger as well as flight capacities significantly. Construction work has already begun at Terminal 3, which is expected to raise annual passenger capacity to 25 million from 4 million.


"The Soekarno-Hatta airport expansion project is on time and on target to handle an expected surge in airline passengers," President Yudhoyono said.

The project includes plans to expand the airport`s main roads -- P1 and P2 -- from and to the passenger terminals respectively, construction of additional aprons and a new high speed taxiway, as well as expansion of the capacity of boarding lounges at Terminal 1A and 1B.

For long-term infrastructure development, PT Angkasa Pura, the state-owned airport management company will renovate two runways and three passenger terminals, which is expected to increase the airport`s capacity to 234 flights per hour.

A new rapid exit taxiway will link Runway 1 to Runway 2 in the eastern part of the airport. Additional aprons are also being built to augment the parking capacity from 125 planes to 174 planes.

Terminal I�s capacity is also being raised to 18 million passengers per year, from 9 million passengers per year, while the annual passenger capacity of Terminal 2 will go up to 19 million from 9 million.

PT Angkasa Pura has also acquired 830 hectares of additional land for the expansion, compared with the 950,000 m2 size of the airport in 1985, when Terminal I and II were constructed.

Vice CEO PT Angkasa Pura II, Rinaldo J Azi said the renovation costs of Terminal 1 and 2 are estimated at Rp2.8 trillion.

"The costs will be borne by the company`s treasury department, through bank loans and through issuance of bonds," Azi said, adding that at present Angkasa Pura II had Rp2 trillion in cash to fund the project.

He added that the renovated terminals were expected to be fully functional by 2015.

PT Angkasa Pura II also plans to boost the capacity of the Soekarto-Hatta Airport`s cargo village to more than one million tons of cargo per year.

At present the airport village covers 70,794 square meters of land with an annual cargo capacity of 500 thousand tons. After the expansion, the cargo village will cover an area of 189 thousand square meters, with an enhanced annual capacity of 1.5 million tons of cargo.

A railway track will be constructed to improve the transportation route from Jakarta to the airport, which is located at Cengkareng area of the Banten Province.

A consortium of state companies is building the railway track at an estimated cost of US$234 million, which included costs for land clearing. Construction of the 19.3 kilometer railway line for economic trains is expected to conclude in 2013.

Following this, it will take only 60 minutes to travel from Dukuh Atas to the airport, Minister for State Enterprises Dahlan Iskan said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Tri Sunoko, the President Director of Angkasa Pura II said the renovation of the Soekartno-Hatta airport, which saw a 19.2 percent growth in 2011, will help boost the national economy and its grand design will cater to its developmental needs for the next 20 years.

The airport`s expansion will also help accommodate the vast increase in passenger traffic at the airport, which has nearly tripled to 62 million from an initial capacity of 22 million passengers annually. In 2011, about 51.5 million passengers traveled through the airport.

However, the airport still needs a lot of work to improve facilities such as toilets and baggage claim services.

Sunoko added that Angkasa Pura will continue to maintain the environment friendly airside and landside landscapes at the airport, which have been used since the 1980s.

The Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, which reflects the country`s traditions and culture through its distinctive and beautiful architecture, won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1995 for integrating landscape and building it in an exceptionally beautiful way.

The airport`s Terminal I and II, which have been designed by French architecture Paul Andreu, interpret the rural buildings of Java including clusters of shingled houses with steeply inclined roofs scattered among flat expanses of fields.

The airport structures are designed as open pavilions, set within a lush, natural environment, which provides shade, shelter, and ventilation.

In addition to the Javanese cultural influence, the Soekarno-Hatta`s architecture has also been modeled on the Kalimantan, Sumatra, and Papua traditional carvings.

President Yudhoyono said an increase in demands for better air transportation services had triggered the airport`s expansion project, which would create more job opportunities and have a positive effect on the economic sector.

He added that it had become vital to provide more facilities and infrastructure in a country which has become the world`s 15th largest economy, increased its gross domestic product, and raised its purchasing power parity to one trillion US dollars.

Air transportation services are also expected to play an important role in facilitating inter-nation and inter-region connectivity plans involving Indonesia and other ASEAN and East Asian countries, the President said.

"Before we connect our country with ASEAN and East Asian regions, we must ensure that we have proper domestic connectivity. We must develop this seriously in the next five years. The improved connectivity will have an important bearing on transportation, trade, investment, and this is a huge space for our economy in the future," he said.

Better air transportation services are also expected to help boost investment and economic growth in general, President Yudhoyono said, adding that by 2015 the ASEAN economic community will need to match its preparedness with the rest of the world.

The Central Statistic Agency (BPS) said the number of international departures rose 9.58 percent to 1.1 million in June compared with the previous month, with the highest jump of 545,800 departures being recorded at the Soekarno Hatta International Airport.

The number of domestic passengers also rose by 2.17 percent to 4.6 million in June. Alone, the Soekarno-Hatta airport recorded the largest percentage of this increase at 1.7 million. ***2***
(t. f001/INE/B003)

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