Indonesia’s Minister of Transportation Ignasius Jonan has committed to adding 15 new airports to the country’s capacity by 2018.
Addressing regional airline CEOs at the recent Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA), conference, Jonan said that as part of a $1 billion dollar allocation on safety and infrastructure, the Indonesian government would also upgrade facilities at existing airports across issues such as runway capability, resurfacing, new facilities and air traffic management (ATM).
“We have 237 airports in operation in Indonesia at the moment,” Jonan said. “The government plans to add 15 new airports up to 2018.”
He said the government would be looking at a variety of upgrades to existing airports’ quality, runway length and terminals, as well as offering safety boosts.
Jonan said the other key push for his ministry is to upgrade airport navigation systems to cope with what he said is a “tremendous growth and challenge” in passenger numbers, driven by a move from many smaller carriers to upgrade from turboprops to single-aisle jets.
“Out of 237 [airports], at least 100 should be able to serve Boeing 737, Airbus A320 or Sukhoi aircraft by 2018,” he said.