Batam to compete with Changi as int'l flight hub
Batam to compete with Changi as int'l flight hub
JAKARTA (JP): Hang Nadim Airport on Batam Island, Riau, which can now accommodate jumbo jets, is ready to compete with Singapore's Changi Airport as an international transport hub.
Director General of Air Transportation Zainuddin Sikado said that the price of aviation fuel on Batam, located some 20 kilometers southeast of Singapore, is 20 percent cheaper than in Singapore.
"It's still hard, however, for international air carriers to transit at Hang Nadim, as the flow of goods and passengers is still low," Sikado said.
Hang Nadim, whose runway has been extended from 3,600 meters to 4,000m, can now accommodate Boeing 747-400 jets. A B-747 aircraft owned by Garuda Indonesia landed safely at the airport on Sunday.
Hang Nadim, which will be officially inaugurated by President Soeharto on Dec. 11, now boasts a 170,000-square-meter apron, an 80,000-sq-m passenger terminal and a 48,600-sq-m cargo building.
The airport will be operated as an international airport for both scheduled and chartered passenger and cargo flights. A number of cargo services to Asian countries (Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, China and Hong Kong), Europe (the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and France) and Australia will be originate from Hang Nadim, the Antara news agency reported yesterday.
Batam has been developed since the early 1970s as an industrial and tourist center. Hang Nadim airport is located on the east coast of the island, which is overseen by the Batam Industrial Development Authority. The Batam authority is chaired by State Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie.
Services
"The most important thing will be how Batam improves the quality of its services," Sikado said in relation to the current low level of traffic passing through the airport.
There are currently 11 domestic flights to and from Batam each day. Twelve additional domestic destinations are due to be served from the airport during the current Sixth Five-Year Development Plan period, which ends in March 1999.
Meanwhile, Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto told reporters after meeting with President Soeharto yesterday that the flight information region (FIR) of Hang Nadim airport will be controlled by Changi Airport in Singapore.
"This is a kind of joint operation, as the two airports are located very close to one another," he said.
He said that Hang Nadim will welcome any air carriers.
"President Soeharto has even offered the American cargo company Federal Express -- through U.S. Secretary of Transportation Federico Pena, who visited Indonesia recently -- that it make Batam its hub in Asia," he added. (icn)