Transport Ministry Expands Trunojoyo Airport to Attract Passenger
9 April 2016 17:58 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Trunojoyo Airport operator in Sumenep, East Java, has started a renovation project since March 2016 to expand the airport’s runway from 1,200 meters to 1,600 meters. The Rp33.7 billion (US$2.5 million) worth of renovation project is expected to be completed in October.
Wahyu Siswono, head of Class III Trunojoyo Airport operator, said that the renovation was initiated to accommodate 75-passengers Boeing ATR 72. The plane is expected to increase the number of passengers in the airport located in Madura Island.
“The airport is not really crowded since it only accommodates pioneer flights with a capacity of 15 passengers,” Wahyu said on Saturday, April 9, 2016.
Since it was opened in early 2015, the number passengers flying from Sumenep to Surabaya has been lower than that flying from Surabaya to Bawean or from Surabaya to Karimunjawa. However, Wahyu claimed that the traffic at Trunojoyo Airport was quite congested since it was used as training ground by two flight schools.
Upon the project completion, Wahyu said, the Transportation Ministry would open a new route, namely Sumenep-Bali and Sumenep-Kalimantan. The idea to open a route to Kalimantan was due to high number of Madura people living in Kalimantan.
“We’re optimistic that the airport will be developed,” he said.
Wahyu hopes that the Sumenep administration will support the airport promotion by holding crafting tourism cooperation programs with Bali. Wahyu said that Sumenep had beautiful beaches, such Lombang and Giliyang, known as the only place with the highest oxygen concentration in the world.
MUSTHOFA BISRI