Landing strips to be leased

BATAM: Air Hongkong, a Hongkong-based airline company, is set to rent landing strips at Hang Nadim Airport in Batam so that its pilots can be trained there.

Dwi Djoko Wiwoho, the spokesman of Batam Industrial Development Authority -- which oversees the running of the airport -- said on Saturday that the agreement to lease the landing strips had been inked in a memorandum of understanding between Batam Industrial Development Authority and Air Hongkong on Wednesday last week.

"The agreement will take effect on Nov. 8," said Djoko, adding that the contract will last for five years, until 2008.

Under the contract, Air Hongkong will be allowed to use the landing strips for training purposes only. The airline will be charged 25 percent of the fees paid by commercial airplanes each time a plane lands. The landing fee for commercial planes is currently US$1,000.

Hang Nadim airport, which was built in 1990, boasts the longest landing strip in Asia.

Currently, the airport only serves domestic flight for six airlines, namely Garuda Indonesian Airways, Bouraq, Jatayu, Lion, Mandala and Merpati Airlines. -- JP