Wamena airport to be upgraded

Wamena airport to be upgraded

JAYAPURA, Irian Jaya: Wamena airport will be upgraded to
accommodate Boeing 737 passenger airplanes by 2004.

The head of the provincial transportation office, HF Nelwan,
said here yesterday that construction had begun with the
extension of the airport's 1,400-meter runway.

According to Antara, the airport currently can only
accommodate the smaller Fokker 28, Fokker 27 and Hercules
airplanes.

"Five airlines regularly fly between Jayapura and Wamena,
namely Trigana, Yanabri, Merpati, Airfast and one owned by
missionaries. Planes land and take off at the airport dozens of
times a day," Nelwan said.

The airport earns at least Rp 1 billion (US$ 278,000) in
annual revenue, he added.

There were no details on how much the airport upgrading would
cost. (mds)