Juanda airport to begin expansion project

SURABAYA (JP): The government is preparing the tender for the expansion of Juanda Airport in Surabaya, East Java.

Achmad Hendarmin, an official at the directorate general of air transportation, said yesterday that four potential consortia had proposed to join the tender.

He said that four bidders which have expressed serious interest include a consortium of Kajima, Mitsubishi, both of Japan, and Waskita Karya; a consortium comprising Teguh Raksa, Hyundai of South Korea, Wijaya Karya; a consortium comprising Obayashi Kumagaci Itochu of Japan, Brantas and Adi Praja and Datam, and the consortium of Taisei Takenaka and PT Pembangunan Perumahan.

"The decision on who will work on the expansion project will be announced in October 1998," Hendarmin said.

He said the expansion project was expected to start in November 1998.

The project will require an additional 230 hectares of land, in the northern part of the existing airport.

"The new additional acquired land will double the size of the Juanda Airport to 700 hectares," he said.

Total investment for the expansion project will be about Rp 1.8 trillion or 42 billion yen, he said.

"About 83 percent of the investment will be financed by the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund and the remaining 17 percent by the state budget," he said.

"The funds will be secured in the Japanese yen because the Indonesian rupiah is relatively stable against the yen," he said.

Construction of the expansion project will be in two phases with the first phase to start in 2000 and the second phase in 2010.

Hendarmin said the expansion project would cover the expansion of the taxiway, cargo terminal, runway, the airport navigation and control system.

Expansion of the Juanda Airport is expected to increase the number of passengers passing through the airport from year to year.

It is estimated that about 5.6 million passengers will arrive at the Juanda Airport in 2005 and this number will continue to rise to 7.7 million in 2010.

"Of that number, about 16.8 percent will be international travelers," Hendarmin said. (nur/aly)