Transport Minister: APT Pranoto Airport Project Costs Rp1.8tn

TEMPO.CO, Samarinda - Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said the expense of the construction project of Aji Pangeran Tumenggung (APT) Pranoto Airport, Samarinda City, East Kalimantan Province amounted to Rp1.8 trillion. “The funding sources come from the State Budget (APBN) and Regional Budget (APBD),” said Budi Karya in the site, Thursday, Oct. 25.

Budi Karya explained the project aimed at providing transportation means for Samarinda people. Thus, they should not visit Balikpapan to take a flight as the distance from Samarinda reached 120 kilometers and the trip required three to four hours using land transportation.

APT Pranoto Airport has 2,250 meters x 45 meters runway, 173 meters x 23 meters taxiway, 300 meters x 123 meters apron, and able to accommodate the extended range, narrow-body jet airliner Boeing 737-900 ER. The airport terminal extends in 12,700 square meters and able to accommodate 1.5 million passengers per year.

The airport, Budi Karya mentioned, had been actively operated since May 24, 2018. At least 14 flights were run daily. He targetted APT Pranoto airport could operate 50 flights every day.

However, the airport operator was only active during the daylight since no lights installed in the runway. “AP I [state airport operator] will soon set the lights at year’s end,” he added.

Today, Oct 25, President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo would inaugurate APT Pranoto Airport. The President was scheduled to land at 11 a.m. along with the First Lady Iriana Jokowi. The President would also symbolically launch Maratua Airport.

CHITRA PARAMAESTI