JavaBrew-Yogya-AdisuciptoAirport

JP/17/ADISUC

Adisucipto aims to become Java cargo service hub

Slamet Susanto The Jakarta Post/Yogyakarta

Yogyakarta's Adisucipto Airport is preparing itself to become the hub of cargo services for the Java region, especially for the southern part of the island.

The airport's management company PT Angkasa Pura I appointed two private cargo companies earlier this month to professionally manage the business and open new cargo markets under a profit sharing scheme.

The companies are PT Dharma Bandara Mandala for the domestic cargo services and PT Global Anindya Mataram for the international services.

According to operational manager M Gatot of Adisucipto Airport's PT Angkasa Pura I, a cargo warehouse, office complex, and administration system are being prepared to support the cargo services at the airport.

Built some 200 meters from the main airport, the construction of the building of the airport's cargo service center will finish next year and the service will begin in the same year.

"Once it is already fully operational, handicrafts, agricultural and marine products that has so far faced difficulties in finding an international market can be exported through the airport," Gatot told The Jakarta Post.

The airport is expected to help increase the export volume of agricultural and fisheries products as well as handicrafts in the region, and to eventually help the expansion of small and medium enterprises.

The international cargo service at Adisucipto Airport, according to Gatot, is stagnant. But, that, he added, is not due to the lack of potential, but rather the lack of international cargo facilities.

"The potential here is very big. We have plenty of handicraft and furniture products. The potential of the neighboring cities, too, are as big as that of Yogyakarta," Gatot asserted.

Staff member Yogi of PT Dharma Bandara Mandala agreed, saying that the domestic cargo potential of Adisucipto Airport was very big with a current average capacity of 10 tons of cargo per day.

"If properly managed while new markets are also opened, I do believe the capacity can rise far above this figure," said Yogi, adding that the current capacity accounted only for cargo to Indonesia's big cities.

"Being a tourist destination as well as handicraft city, I'm quite sure that the capacity can increase two fold or three fold," he added.

Speaking separately to the Post Yogyakarta provincial secretary Bambang Susanto Priyohadi said that the provincial government was very supportive of the plan to make Adisucipto the hub of cargo services in Java.

"We are currently inviting investors to invest here and help develop small and medium enterprises in Yogyakarta," Bambang said.

To ease the entry of products of small and medium businesses into the international market, the provincial government has also launched a program to improve the quality of their products, said Bambang.

The local government is offering soft loans in cooperation with a bank to small and medium businesses. The provincial government has provided Rp 20 billion of the fund while the bank has prepared Rp 120 billion for the provision of soft loans.

Bambang also said although the international cargo service had shown good prospects.

Jamu Merit, a herbal medicine company from the neighboring town of Magelang, Central Java, has been exporting to Malaysia through Yogyakarta's Adisucipto Airport for some time.

A trial in exporting mushrooms from Wonosobo, also in Central Java, to Thailand and other countries, according to Bambang, has also been conducted at the airport.

"There are many other agricultural and fishery products here that have not yet been exported due to the inadequate international cargo facilities. The new facility will help the products reach the destination country faster and fresher," Bambang said.

Bambang, therefore, expressed hope that the establishment of an international cargo service at Adisucipto Airport would in turn encourage people to export agricultural and fishery products from Yogyakarta and the surrounding area.

To support the program, the provincial government has also built a large car park at the north of the airport. At the same time, the airport's management company is also building a new passenger terminal with a capacity of 5,000 passengers per day.

The previous capacity was 700 passengers a day while the number of passengers reaches up to 3,500 passengers a day at present.