Soekarno Hatta international airport in Indonesia’s capital city of Jakarta. (Source: internet) Jakarta (VNA) – Soekarno Hatta international airport in Indonesia’s capital city of Jakarta will have direct flights to 70 countries by 2017, once its new Terminal 3 becomes operational.
Indonesia’s Antara News Agency quoted Chairman Budi Karya Sumadi of state owned PT Angkasa Pura II – which runs the airport, as saying that currently there are only direct flights from the largest airport in the country to 30 countries worldwide.
The new terminal being built at a cost of 7.5 trillion Rupiah (568 million USD) will have the capacity to accommodate 25 million passengers a year. It is expected to help the airport to catch up with Malaysia’s international airport in Kuala Lumpur, which now gets linked to 70 countries.
The chairman said Terminal 3 is expected to be able to catch up with Kuala Lumpur, but it has a long way to go to keep pace with Singapore’s Changi, which already has regular direct flights to 100 countries. However, Soekarno Hatta airport is not inferior to Changi in its use of advanced technologies; therefore it should not be too difficult to compete with other airports in Asia, he cited.
In order to reach the target by 2017, airport services and facilities have to be improved, including security, customs services and terminal connection.
Indonesia has decided to transform Soekarno Hatta airport into an international transit, but it must be able to offer competitive services and facilities.-VNA
