TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi stated an airport in Kediri, East Java is planned to be built at the end of 2018 and by 2019 will start operating.
“The Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan will monitor this project. We expected the construction starts this year as soon as possible and he hoped to hold the soft opening in 2019,” Budi noted in Jakarta, Thursday, April 5.
Today, the Minister is scheduled to attend a meeting with Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs in Jakarta with several related stakeholders including National Navy Force (TNI AU), PT Gudang Garam Tbk as the investor, and airport operator PT Angkasa Pura II.
Budi explained, according to Gudang Garam, the airport runway will be 3,200 meters, but in the first phase, it will be 2,400 meters. “They have submitted the proposal. The investment reached Rp5 trillion,” he stated.
The transportation minister stated the construction has entered the phase of location and design determination. The project plan has gained support after approved by government institutions and Navy Force.
The Director-General of Land Procurement at the Ministry of Agriculture and spatial Planning or the National Land Agency (BPN) Arie Yuriwin stated his office is currently determining the airport location. “It [the location] should be based on spatial planning, then we can decide and provide the land,” Arie noted.
Arie further explained, the total land to be used for airport construction in Kediri, East Java is 457 hectares which some of the lands belonging to Gudang Garam. “The obstacle is only the spatial planning,” he stated.
ANTARA