" Bismillah (in the name of Allah), this afternoon, I pronounced the opening of the passengers terminal of Supadio International Airport in Pontianak," Jokowi stated here on Thursday.
The president was accompanied by First Lady Iriana Joko Widodo, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi, Chief of Presidential Staff Teten Masduki, and Presidential Special Staff Ari Dwipayana.
"The front terminal building of the airport is so magnificent and filled with artistic Dayak adornment. We hope that the airport could accommodate the increased number of passengers," he noted.
According to Jokowi, with 15 percent growth of passengers and 3.5 million passengers currently, the airport would not be able to accommodate more passengers next year.
"I have told the transportation minister that if the terminal is not big enough, we would have to expand it more. Now, it has covered an area of 32 thousand square meters, but to catch up with the 15 percent growth (of passengers), we have to expand it twice bigger to 64 thousand square meters," Jokowi said, adding that he would evaluate the capacity of the terminals.
The airport expansion started in 2015 and finished in August 2017, with a total investment of Rp350 billion for renovation of the terminals.
The president has also underlined the need to add more runways. "There is a plan to have two runways and not one. The AP II President Director has disclosed the plan to me, but we will study it first. If the traffic is too busy, then we have to build more runways," he remarked.
The airport terminal has been expanded from 13,683 square meters to 32 thousands square meters, which could accommodate 3.8 million passengers, from the current number of only 1.5 million passengers.
The runway was increased from 2,250 meters to 2,650 meters, and it would be increased further to 3,000 meters in 2018.
Reported by Desca Lidya Natalia
(S022/INE)
EDITED BY INE/a014
Reporter: antara
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2017
