Most airports managed by Angkasa Pura suffer losses

Most airports managed by Angkasa Pura suffer losses

JAKARTA (JP): State-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura I,
which manages 13 airports in the central and eastern parts of the
country, said only three of its airports were profitable.

Angkasa Pura I President Gatot Pudjo Hartono said on Thursday
that, the Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali, the Juanda
International Airport in Surabaya, East Java, and the Hasanuddin
International Airport in Ujung Pandang, South Sulawesi, booked
combined profits of Rp 200 billion ($23.5 million) in 1999.

"About 50 percent of the profit came from Ngurah Rai, while
Juanda and Hasanuddin contributed 25 percent each," he was quoted
by Antara as saying in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara.

The other 10 airports have been losing money since the
economic crisis hit the country in 1997, he said.

Gatot said the Sepinggan Airport in Balikpapan, East
Kalimantan was losing up to Rp 16 billion ($1.8 million) a year,
while the Selarapang Airport in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara was
losing Rp 5 billion a year.

"The airports have lost large amounts of money each year due
to the drop in flights while the cost to maintain operations
remained high," he said.

Gatot cited the Pattimura International Airport in Ambon,
Maluku, which only serves three flights a day.

Six airports, including Selarapang, Ahmad Yani Airport in
Semarang, Central Java, and Adisutjipto Airport in Yogyakarta,
managed to book profits before the crisis, but the plunge in
their revenues due to the decline in flights since 1997 has put
their balance sheets into the red.

Gatot said the airports in Semarang and Yogyakarta were losing
money because most of the people had turned to cheaper means of
transportation like buses and trains.

The government's intention to hand over the management of the
airport in Manado, North Sulawesi to PT Angkasa Pura I in October
this year would further undermine the company's finances, he
said.

"The airport's income is very small, and we will have to pay
for the costs of maintenance," Gatot said.

He said that despite the losses, Angkasa Pura I had no plans
to close any of the money losing airports.

"Monies from profitable airports will be allocated to those
still suffering losses under a cross subsidy program," Gatot
said. (10)