Jakarta’s second airport opens for commercial flights

Jakarta’s Halim Perdanakusuma air force base has opened for commercial flights, as part of efforts to reduce congestion at the city’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

Garuda’s subsidiary Citilink started operating from the airport on Friday 10 January 2014, and the airport will now provide a base for several carriers, including Garuda Indonesia and AirAsia.

Indonesia’s Antara news agency reported the country’s deputy minister of transport, Bambang Susantono, as saying that the airport would operate for up to 10 years, until the expansion of Soekarno-Hatta and the development of another Jakarta airport is complete.

“The shifting of flights to Halim is only a short-term solution. It will indeed not significantly reduce flights at Soekarno-Hatta but instead, it will help reduce burden there especially during certain hours to meet the ideal capacity of flights,” Bambang was quoted saying.

“Perhaps they will run for less than 10 years. Following the annual evaluation and the development of a new airport, Halim Perdanakusuma will be focused on its original functions namely serving VVIP flights and defence purposes.”

Operations at Halim Perdanakasuma might not run smoothly however; the airport is still designed as an air force base and Bambang said that in the case of VVIP and military operations, commercial flights may be delayed.

With regards to the new airport being planned for Jakarta, Bambang said Karawang, approximately 50km east of Jakarta, is still the most likely site.

“Based on the results of studies there are seven alternatives, however the most ideal is at Karawang,” he told Antara.

The new airport is expected to cost up to IDR10 trillion (US$846 million), with construction taking approximately six years to complete. Jakarta’s existing Soekarno-Hatta International Airport is currently operating at more than double its intended capacity of 22 million passengers per year.