Next year, a larger airport, with a longer runway, must be built in Wasior District ..."Wondama Bay (ANTARA News) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has expressed his agreement to relocate the Margono Airport at Wondama Bay in Waisor District, West Papua, to a more spacious area.
"The transportation minister had said earlier that the extension of the runway at Margono airport was not possible. It means that the airport must be relocated to a spacious area," President Jokowi remarked while inaugurating the Waisor sea port here on Tuesday.
According to Jokowi, an ideal airport should have a long runway that can accommodate larger aircraft, but the airport at Wondama Bay still has a shorter runway.
"It is now the task of the transportation minister, West Papua governor, and Wasior district head to find a spacious area to relocate the airport," the president noted.
President Jokowi stated that the relocation of the airport can be done starting next year.
"Next year, a larger airport, with a longer runway, must be built in Wasior District to replace the Margono airport," the president affirmed.
Earlier, on the same occasion, Transportation Minister Ignatius Jonan had proposed that the airport at Wondama Bay should be relocated to some other location.
"The length of Margono airports runway is only 600 meters and cannot be extended. If the local government has a spacious land, the new airport can be built to boost connectivity," the transportation minister remarked.
According to Jonan, the Margono airport at Wondama Bay is currently only able to accommodate single engine aircraft, with a capacity of six to ten passengers, and can fly for 30 minutes.
Further, the minister pointed out that air ticket prices in Wasior range from Rp1.5 million to Rp2 million per passenger, while the ticket price for travel by sea is only Rp200 thousand per passenger.
(Uu.O001/INE/KR-BSR)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2016
