Airport name-change faces long, bumpy flight

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.