The Indonesian government has announced plans to build a $10bn international airport outside Jakarta to accommodate a surge in demand as the country’s economy continues to grow at a steady 5%.
The facility will be connected to the capital’s present airport, Soekarno-Hatta (JSHIA), and will act as an overflow facility for it.
JSHIA was the world’s 17th busiest airport last year with a passenger throughput of 60 million, an increase of more than 8%, the fastest growth rate among the top 30.
The plan to build a second international airport, JSHIA 2, has been under discussion for some time, but no site had been chosen.
Back in 2011, the frontrunner site was Karawang, 40km east of Jakarta, and the aim was to have it in operation by 2020. This was later ruled out for environmental reasons, and the new plan is to build it on reclaimed land about 15km north of JSHIA 1.
The Nikkei Asian Review reports that the work may be procured using a private-public partnership, with the operator 51% owned by Angkasa Pura II, the state-backed operator of Soekarno-Hatta.
The airport will have two runways and rail and road links to Soekarno-Hatta. Together, the two JSHIAs will have a capacity of more than 100 million, joining a new breed of mega-airports under construction in Turkey, Mexico and the UAE, and becoming the largest hub in southeast Asia.
No start date for the scheme has yet been announced.
Image: Bursting at the seams: Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (Gunawan Kartapranata/Creative Commons)
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