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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