September 25, 2024
JAKARTA – The new airport at the future capital city of Nusantara in East Kalimantan will serve commercial flights with a capacity of millions of passengers once it is up and running, says President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.
Jokowi made his first landing at 4:15 p.m. on Tuesday, flying on a small presidential plane after a visit from Pontianak, West Kalimantan. The plane, a BAe 146-200, was a quad-engine short-haul aircraft made by British Aerospace.
After landing in the future capital city, the outgoing president, who will leave office next month, inspected the airport’s facilities and their condition before delivering statements to journalists.
“I have instructed the transportation minister to change this airport into a commercial airport for the public, so it can be used to cater for haj and umrah [minor haj] flights,” Jokowi told reporters, according to a statement issued on Tuesday.
He estimated that the airport in Nusantara could serve up to 200,000 passengers by the end of this year. The long-term target is for the airport to serve up to 7 million passengers once it is fully operational as a commercial airport.
But the airport’s commercial operation would wait until a presidential regulation (perpres) mandating this was issued, Jokowi said, without elaborating on whether he would sign such a policy.
A perpres issued last year on the acceleration of the airport’s construction mandated that the airport in Nusantara would be a “special airport” used for governmental purposes in the new capital.
“This airport shouldn’t only serve VVIP [passengers]. I want it to be more useful for those who want to go on umrah, haj or fly to and from Nusantara. I think it will be more beneficial that way,” Jokowi said.
Commenting on his first landing at the airport, the President told reporters that the landing was “smooth”.
The airport at Nusantara has a runway that is 2,200 meters long and 30 m wide. The runway also has a 7.5-m shoulder and a taxiway of 153 by 23 m.
These dimensions are sufficient for small aircraft like the BAe-146, which requires a takeoff distance of 1,390 m and landing distance of 1,190 m.
However, the current runway is still unable to handle the main presidential aircraft, a Boeing Business Jet 2 that is based on the Boeing 737-800 Next Generation, and other similar larger aircraft.
With a maximum takeoff weight of 79,000 kilograms, a Boeing 737-800 requires a takeoff distance of 2,300 m and a landing distance of 2,000 m.
Officials of the Transportation Ministry and the Air Force have carried out takeoff and landing trials in the past few weeks using different types of aircraft, ranging from light transport aircraft such as the CASA C-212 to heavier types like the C-130 Hercules.
The Air Force has said the runway’s asphalt quality meets the necessary requirements as its team was able to stop their planes with a standard configuration.
Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi previously said the verification and calibration stages of the airport had been completed before his entourage tried the new airport using a business jet on Sept. 19, the first time a jet aircraft landed at the airport.
The results of the verification and calibration had met aviation security and safety standards, the minister said. (kuk)