Airport name-change faces long, bumpy flight
Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Cirebon, West Java
The unilateral move by the Cirebon municipality to change the name of Cirebon's airport was not yet legal, an official said at the Penggung airport here on Saturday.
"The change in names, from Penggung to Cakrabhuwana Airport, must get approval from the Ministry of Communications and the governor of West Java," Penggung Airport head Dadang Ekasmana said.
A sign reading "Cakrabhuwana Airport" has already been put up at the airport, located in Harjamukti district, 6 kilometers south of Cirebon city. The name change was also done without the written approval of the airport management.
Dadang explained the change in name had long been proposed by the municipality during the tenure of Lesmana Suriaatmadja, mayor of Cirebon from 1998 to 2003.
The change came in the form of a directive by the Cirebon mayor No. 19/2003 dated April 14, 2003.
The mayor's decree became the basis for the proposal of the name change, which was submitted to the Ministry of Communications in a letter by the mayor on May 21, 2003. "The letter was then replied to by officials from the Directorate General of Air Communications," he said.
In the reply letter signed by the secretary of the directorate, Sri Hardini, it stated that in principle, the ministry had no objection in the name change, which is in honor of Cirebon's city founder, Cakrabhuwana.
"But, the ministry cannot (accept the change) yet as there are other matters outstanding," the letter said.
It stated the name change must be approved by the minister and must be registered in the NOTAM (Notice to Airman) and AIP (Aeronautical Information Publication) systems.
The change then needed to be reported to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), an international organization under the supervision of the United Nations, in order to further notify airlines, airport administrators and other parties related to commercial flights worldwide.
Based on the letter from the directorate general, the new mayor, Subardi, dispatched a letter dated Dec. 24 to the Governor Danny Setiawan, which requested the governor submit the proposal officially to the minister.
But the letter has not yet been replied to by the governor. "Without knowing this, the municipality has erected a signboard with the new name," he said.
Separately, the deputy mayor of Cirebon, Agus Al Wafier, said the municipal government would not demolish the sign reading Cakrabhuwana Airport, as it had already been demanded by various groups in the municipality.
However, he said the municipal government could compromise. "We will continue our efforts to ask the ministry to immediately grant our wish," Dadang said.
The name change has been an ongoing source of controversy in Cirebon with councillors at the Cirebon legislature opposing the move.