Lombok's new int'l airport on track
Lombok's new int'l airport on track
Antara, Mataram
Known for the major potential of its tourism sector, West Nusa
Tenggara is writing a new chapter in Indonesian aviation history
with the construction of Lombok International Airport in Central
Lombok regency.
"We have awaited for 12 long years since it was first planned
in 1993, and now the physical construction of the golden gateway
to the province is actually happening," said West Nusa Tenggara
Governor Lalu Serinata on Wednesday in Praya, Central Lombok,
some 30 kilometers away from the provincial capital of Mataram.
Serinata told reporters that the international airport was
crucial for encouraging development and better welfare for the
province's people.
The population density in Mataram city and Lombok stands at
625 per square kilometer, which implies that in the agricultural
sector each hectare of land must support three families.
"For this reason, we have to develop other sectors to improve
public welfare, such as the tourism and marine sectors, which
need to be supported by an international airport," said Serinata.
Separately, Suwetja Putra, general manager of the state-owned
airport management company PT Angkasa Pura, which operates
Selaparang Airport, said an international airport in the province
had long been hoped for, adding that Selaparang Airport in
Mataram was already operating beyond capacity.
Selaparang Airport now handles 34 flights per day, or 1,200
passengers, two flights of which are direct international flights
from Malaysia and Singapore.
He said that in to break even -- the airport loses some Rp 5
billion (US$500,000) per year -- at least 30 percent of all
flights would need to be direct international flights.
It is hoped that the international airport, which will cost Rp
625 billion to complete, will serve new international routes to
Bangkok, Taiwan, Seoul, Tokyo, Sydney, Darwin and Manila, as well
as taking haj pilgrims to Jeddah.
The sod-turning ceremony for the new airport took place in
August despite a land dispute that ended up in clashes between farmers
and police in September. At least 27 farmers were injured in the
clashes but no fatalities were reported.