TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - State-owned airport operator Angkasa Pura II is planning to speed up the construction of Soekarno-Hatta airport's Terminal 3 (T3) "Ultimate" expansion project, which is now slated to be completed by August 2014.
Fransisca Dewi Larasati, the head of T3 "Ultimate" expansion project, said the construction was delayed due to the torrential downpours that had forced the project put to a halt. "The construction was disrupted for around three months," explained Fransisca on Wednesday.
Some 3,000 workers will be deployed by the project's contractors to accelerate the expansion of the terminal, which will have a capacity to handle 25 million passengers. "They work in two shifts, day and night," said Fransisca.
Currently, the "Ultimate" project is around 68 percent completed. "The seven zones that are being constructed have entered the finishing phase," Fransisca elaborated.
The seven zones that Fransisca referred to are the arrival and departure concourses, domestic arrival and departure areas, international passenger parking, domestic passenger parking, a VVIP area, and a flyover. "The entire complex spans 1.2 kilometers," she said.
Angkasa Pura II's director of Airport and Technology, Salahudin Rafi, said T3 would be used to accommodate the increasing amount of passengers going through Jakarta's international gateway. Currently, Soekarno-Hatta International Airport has the capacity to handle 22 million passengers. Rafi predicts that by next year, the amount of passengers will rise by 177 percent to 61 million passengers.
The handover of the T3 complex will be staggered across three phases. Phase 1 is scheduled for September 2014, Phase 2 is set in January 2015, while the final Phase is slated for June 2015.
According to Rafi, T3's apron has the capacity to accommodate 40 airplanes out of the planned capacity of 60 aircraft. The project, which kicked off in November 2012, is designed to turn T3 into a modern "aerotropolis".
Upon completion, T3 will be linked to an integrated rail system that connects it with the Terminal 1 and 2, as well as with the cargo complex and Greater Jakarta's rail services. "The Tangerang Line will be connected to the airport rail link," said Rafi.
JONIANSYAH