Power glitch hits Jakarta's airport

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A power failure hit the country's main airport, Soekarno-Hatta International in Cengkareng, west of Jakarta, on Sunday afternoon, leaving passengers waiting for their flights in the dark and without air-conditioning for over two hours.

Airport director Untung Rahayu said the blackout occurred at 3:19 p.m., when the airport's electricity supply from state electricity company PLN's power plants in Muara Karang and Kosambi, both in West Jakarta, was suddenly disrupted. The power came back again at 5:48 p.m.

The blackout caused no delays to scheduled flights or to the airport's other passenger services.

"The airport immediately switched to the automatic generator system when the blackout occurred," Untung said.

Since the generator could only supply up to 4,800 kVA of electricity, power supplies were prioritized for the airport's main systems. The airport normally needs a supply of 22,000 kVA.

"Power was only restored to the airport's air traffic control system, security system, aircraft boarding system and airline ticketing system," Untung said.

To the inconvenience of many passengers and other visitors to the airport, its lighting and air-conditioning systems were not included.

Sunday's glitch comes just five months after two consecutive malfunctions of the airport's main computer left air traffic controllers unable to access data for their radars.

The first malfunction took place on March 18 from 12:50 p.m. to 3 p.m., causing 80 flights to be delayed. About 15 hours after the system came back online, another malfunction occurred from 8:10 a.m. to 3 p.m., causing 113 flights to be delayed and stranding thousands of passengers.

In 1998, over 100 flights were delayed because of an electrical disruption that affected the airport's radar encoder.

Many have called on the airport operator PT Angkasa Pura to upgrade its aging system to ensure premium services at the country's main airport.

The operator had actually completed a 100-day service improvement program on July 23. The Rp 1 billion (US$111,111) project, however, only refurbished airport lounges, enlarged parking lots and other beautification projects.