Soeharto inaugurates Hang Nadim airport

Soeharto inaugurates Hang Nadim airport

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto inaugurated the Hang Nadim
Airport in Batam, Riau, yesterday, calling for further
development of the new facility with a view to making it an
international transportation hub.

"In facing the new era of open markets and free trade, the
role of transportation, especially air transportation, will be
more important. Cheap, safe and quick transportation will
accelerate the process of open markets and free trade," the
President said at the inauguration ceremony in Batam.

He called for more feasibility studies for the next
development of the airport, following the rapid growth of
technology and competition.

Batam, located some 20 kilometers southeast of Singapore, has
been developed since the early 1970s as an industrial and tourist
center. Hang Nadim airport is on the east coast of the island,
which is overseen by the Batam Industrial Development Authority.

The authority, chaired by State Minister of Research and
Technology B.J. Habibie, also oversees the development of
neighboring islands, including Rempang and Galang.

Following its expansion, the Hang Nadim airport can now
accommodate large jets, including Boeing B-747-400s. Its runway
has been extended from 3,600 meters to 4,000 meters, at an
investment of about Rp 500 billion (US$217.4 million). The apron
will be able to handle seven wide-bodied and six smaller-bodied
aircraft.

By comparison, Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta Airport has 3,650-
meter runways.

Hang Nadim Airport will be operated as an international
airport for both scheduled and chartered passenger and cargo
flights. A full-capacity B-747-400 aircraft from Batam will be
able to fly to Frankfurt or London directly.

Habibie said that Hang Nadim will offer a cheaper landing fee
and aviation fuel price than Singapore.

"The landing fee at Hang Nadim will be 48-percent cheaper than
that at the Changi Airport in Singapore, while the state-owned
oil firm Pertamina will sell aviation fuel five percent or seven
percent less than the Singapore price because Batam is a duty
free area," Antara quoted Habibie as saying yesterday.

At yesterday's ceremony, President Soeharto also inaugurated a
number of other projects in Batam, including new
telecommunications facilities, electronics plants, ferry
terminals, small-scale bonded zones and a golf course.

He said the inaugurated projects are expected to support the
development of the tourism industry in Batam and its surrounding
islands.

Batam and its surrounding islands are part of a triangle
growth area with Singapore and Johore, Malaysia. Foreign
investors, most of whom come from Singapore, have established
industrial facilities, hotels and tourist resorts on the islands.

The President said Indonesia would earn increasing revenues
from foreign tourist arrivals in the islands.

"We need to increase foreign exchange revenues from tourists,"
he said, adding that foreign tourists visiting Batam should be
encouraged to visit other parts of Indonesia as well.

Official data shows that 760,921 foreign tourists visited
Indonesia in the January-October period, as compared with 712,105
tourists recorded for the corresponding period of 1994. (icn)

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