Bali's Ngurah Rai airport to be expanded further
Bali's Ngurah Rai airport to be expanded further
JAKARTA (JP): The state-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura I plans to start the second phase of construction of the Ngurah Rai airport in Bali next year.
The company's president, Fachri Zainuddin, said in a hearing with members of the House of Representatives yesterday that the construction is part of the airport's expansion plan supported by Japan's Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund.
"In October this year, we completed the construction of seven new apron positions (able to accommodate seven aircraft). Ngurah Rai now has a total of 28 apron positions, six of which are for wide-body jets, four for middle-body jets and 18 for smaller aircraft," he said.
He said that even though the growth rates of both the number of passengers and traffic at Bali's airport are very high, aircraft will have no difficulties landing there.
"The airport is prepared to handle international cargo and passenger flights as well as non-aeronautical activities," he said.
However, he acknowledged that the mass cemetery in the planned site poses a problem for his company in constructing parallel taxiways.
He said that the other expansion project at the Ngurah Rai airport will include the establishment of a small-scale hangar and six new aviobridges.
"We will soon appropriate a 2.5-hectare plot near the airport to be used as a small hangar for Garuda Indonesia. Meanwhile, we are planning sea reclamation for the six new aviobridges," he said, adding that Ngurah Rai will have a total of 10 aviobridges.
The expansion of the Ngurah Rai airport will cost Rp 250 billion (US$109.2 million).
In addition to the Ngurah Rai, Angkasa Pura I also manages 11 other airports, including the Juanda airport in Surabaya, East Java, the Hasanuddin airport in Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi, the Sepinggan airport in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.
The others are Sam Ratulangi in Manado, North Sulawesi; Frans Kaisiepo in Biak, Irian Jaya; Syamsudin Noor in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan; Adisucipto in Yogyakarta; Adisumarmo in Surakarta, Central Java; Selaparang in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara; and Achmad Yani in Semarang, Central Java.
Soekarno-Hatta
Meanwhile, PT Angkasa Pura II's president, Chusjairi, who also attended yesterday's hearing, said that his company also planned a number of expansion projects at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta airport.
He said that the projects planned for the airport include the construction of a four-star hotel, a public gas station, a sea laboratory center, a sea recreation center, a golf course, a driving range, air cargo trans-shipment and flight catering.
He said that construction of the planned hotel, to be managed by Sheraton, will be completed next May, a month before the Indonesia Airshow 1996.
"The projects are expected to help increase Angkasa Pura II's revenues from non-aeronautical activities," Chusjairi said.
Angkasa Pura II currently manages nine airports, including the Soekarno-Hatta and Halim Perdanakusuma airports in Jakarta, the Badaruddin airport in Palembang, South Sumatra; the Supadio airport in Pontianak, West Kalimantan; and the Polonia airport in Medan, North Sumatra.
The others are the Husein Sastranegara airport in Bandung, West Java; the Simpang Tiga airport in Pekan Baru, Riau; the Sultan Iskandarmuda airport in Banda Aceh, Aceh; and the Tabing airport in Padang, West Sumatra. (icn)