50-seater planes will land on Thousand Islands
50-seater planes will land on Thousand Islands
Bambang Nurbianto
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
To attract a larger number of tourists to the resorts on
Kepulauan Seribu (Thousand Islands) regency, the city
administration is repairing and developing an airstrip on Panjang
isle, the construction of which will start next year.
Regent Djoko Ramadhan said investors from Saudi Arabia and
Malaysia would take part in the expansion of the currently idle
airstrip from 900 meters to 1,000 meters at a total cost of Rp 35
billion (US$3.5 million).
"We believe the expansion of the airstrip will boost the
tourist industry in Kepulauan Seribu regency. Currently,
transportation is the main problem," Djoko said after reporting
the project to Governor Sutiyoso on Wednesday.
He said the islands could currently only be reached with
rented speedboats or small, traditional fishing boats.
According to Djoko, some 90,000 tourists -- 70,000 domestic
tourists and 20,000 foreign tourists -- visited nine isles last
year, which contributed Rp 2 billion to the city revenue.
But the tourist industry has the potential to expand if the
airstrip -- which is badly damaged after not being operational
for about 10 years -- works well, said Djoko.
The airplanes that used to land there were of a small
capacity, such as Cassa 212, twin otter and DHC6.
According to Djoko, the new airstrip can accommodate a 50-
seater airplane.
The airstrip will be open for chartered as well as commercial
planes from Jakarta, Lampung, Surabaya and Medan.
He added that air traffic control for the airstrip will be
operated from the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in
Tangerang.
The new airstrip will be equipped with various supporting
facilities like storage, restaurant, houses for employees, as
well as piers to transport tourists to nearby isles.
Djoko said tourists currently only visited nine out of 45
islands in the regency, namely: Sepa, Bidadari, Bira Besar,
Hantu, Kotok Timur, Kotok Tengah, Matahari and Putri isles.
According to him , after the completion of the airstrip
expansion, the regency will also invite investors to develop
other isles as tourist resorts.
"All isles in Kepulauan Seribu regency have the potential to
be developed as a tourist destination. Therefore, we will invite
investors to start business there," he added.