Batam not ready for foreign air cargo, airport officials say
Batam not ready for foreign air cargo, airport officials say
By Johannes Simbolon
BATAM, Riau (JP): Despite a government order that all
international cargo flights load and unload at Hang Nadim
airport, they cannot because the airport does not have the
facilities, officials said here yesterday.
Hang Nadim airport's acting head, Fuad Zarkasi, and its air
operations head, Richard Marpaung, said that while Hang Nadim had
been renovated to meet many international standards, its cargo
terminal had not.
Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto said early this
week that the government had ordered all foreign cargo planes to
land in Batam so that Hang Nadim would become the country's air
cargo center.
But he did not say when the ruling came into effect or whether
a law existed for that purpose.
The minister said that all international air cargo must be
loaded and unloaded in Hang Nadim and that only domestic air
cargo companies could handle storage and distribution of the
cargo domestically.
The policy aimed to stimulate the role of domestic airlines
in air freight services, he said.
But Fuad said yesterday: "For instance, the cargo terminal
cannot store non-durable goods, like food and vegetables, because
it does not have any refrigeration facilities."
According to the airport's masterplan, Fuad said, the cargo
terminal will meet international standards, complete with
refrigerators, after the fourth phase of the airport's
development had been completed. The fourth phase is scheduled to
begin in 1997 but "its realization depends on the availability of
funds," he said.
The fourth development phase will extend the cargo terminal's
area to 35,000 square meters from 1,800 square meters at present,
including a second story to be built on the terminal.
The cargo terminal can now hold 25,000 tons of cargo, Fuad
said. He said he had no idea about its future capacity.
Marpaung said Hang Nadim's cargo terminal had only been served
by one scheduled air cargo service, Sabang Merauke Air Cargo
(SMAC), which flies a Singapore-Batam-Balik Papan route twice
daily, using an AN 74 aircraft with a 1.7-ton capacity.
Earlier this week, Garuda Indonesia launched its first Boeing
737-200C cargo jet to operate scheduled services to major cities
in eastern Indonesia.
The Batam Island Development Authority (BIDA) has renovated
Hang Nadim airport's passenger terminal to an international
standard and improved its cargo terminal to rival the busy Changi
airport in Singapore.
Hang Nadim's runway has been extended to more than 4,000
meters, longer than Cengkareng airport's, and its apron can host
seven Boeing B-747-400s, three Boeing-737s and three F-28s
simultaneously.
Garuda Indonesia launched its weekly Jakarta-Batam-Jeddah
service last Wednesday. It is the first scheduled international
flight to stop over in Batam. Garuda plans more international
flights via the airport.
The airline does not plan to fly cargo to the island.
"As far as our air cargo service is concerned, for the moment,
we will focus on eastern Indonesia," said Harliman Sumasaptra,
Garuda Indonesia's domestic area chief.
Fuad said Hang Nadim's cargo terminal had good development
potential, given that industrial companies in Batam exported 205
tons of their produce a week to Asian, American and European
countries.
The goods, he said, were mostly carried by sea to Singapore
before being air freighted to their final destinations.
"Most of the industries here belong to Singaporeans. Maybe,
the industries deliberately avoid Hang Nadim because of an
agreement that all the goods should be carried by Singapore's air
cargo," he said.
By Johannes Simbolon
BATAM, Riau (JP): Despite a government order that all
international cargo flights load and unload at Hang Nadim
airport, they cannot because the airport does not have the
facilities, officials said here yesterday.
Hang Nadim airport's acting head, Fuad Zarkasi, and its air
operations head, Richard Marpaung, said that while Hang Nadim had
been renovated to meet many international standards, its cargo
terminal had not.
Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto said early this
week that the government had ordered all foreign cargo planes to
land in Batam so that Hang Nadim would become the country's air
cargo center.
But he did not say when the ruling came into effect or whether
a law existed for that purpose.
The minister said that all international air cargo must be
loaded and unloaded in Hang Nadim and that only domestic air
cargo companies could handle storage and distribution of the
cargo domestically.
The policy aimed to stimulate the role of domestic airlines
in air freight services, he said.
But Fuad said yesterday: "For instance, the cargo terminal
cannot store non-durable goods, like food and vegetables, because
it does not have any refrigeration facilities."
According to the airport's masterplan, Fuad said, the cargo
terminal will meet international standards, complete with
refrigerators, after the fourth phase of the airport's
development had been completed. The fourth phase is scheduled to
begin in 1997 but "its realization depends on the availability of
funds," he said.
The fourth development phase will extend the cargo terminal's
area to 35,000 square meters from 1,800 square meters at present,
including a second story to be built on the terminal.
The cargo terminal can now hold 25,000 tons of cargo, Fuad
said. He said he had no idea about its future capacity.
Marpaung said Hang Nadim's cargo terminal had only been served
by one scheduled air cargo service, Sabang Merauke Air Cargo
(SMAC), which flies a Singapore-Batam-Balik Papan route twice
daily, using an AN 74 aircraft with a 1.7-ton capacity.
Earlier this week, Garuda Indonesia launched its first Boeing
737-200C cargo jet to operate scheduled services to major cities
in eastern Indonesia.
The Batam Island Development Authority (BIDA) has renovated
Hang Nadim airport's passenger terminal to an international
standard and improved its cargo terminal to rival the busy Changi
airport in Singapore.
Hang Nadim's runway has been extended to more than 4,000
meters, longer than Cengkareng airport's, and its apron can host
seven Boeing B-747-400s, three Boeing-737s and three F-28s
simultaneously.
Garuda Indonesia launched its weekly Jakarta-Batam-Jeddah
service last Wednesday. It is the first scheduled international
flight to stop over in Batam. Garuda plans more international
flights via the airport.
The airline does not plan to fly cargo to the island.
"As far as our air cargo service is concerned, for the moment,
we will focus on eastern Indonesia," said Harliman Sumasaptra,
Garuda Indonesia's domestic area chief.
Fuad said Hang Nadim's cargo terminal had good development
potential, given that industrial companies in Batam exported 205
tons of their produce a week to Asian, American and European
countries.
The goods, he said, were mostly carried by sea to Singapore
before being air freighted to their final destinations.
"Most of the industries here belong to Singaporeans. Maybe,
the industries deliberately avoid Hang Nadim because of an
agreement that all the goods should be carried by Singapore's air
cargo," he said.