The construction of the cargo village would be completed by 2013 and would begin operations that same year.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - State-owned airport management company PT Angkasa Pura II will increase the capacity of Soekarto-Hatta International Airport`s cargo village to more than one million tons of cargo per year, its president director said.

"We will increase the capacity of the airport`s cargo village to accommodate up to 1.5 million tons of cargo per annum in an effort to create an Airport City," PT Angkasa Pura II president director Tri Sunoko said here on Thursday.

Tri Sunoko made the remark during a groundbreaking function for the expansion of the airport to increase its annual passenger capacity from 51.5 million in 2011 to 62 million in 2014.

He said that the construction of the cargo village would be completed by 2013 and would begin operations that same year.

At present the airport village sits on 70,794 square meters of land with an annual cargo capacity of 500 thousand tons. After the expansion, the cargo village will cover an area of 189 thousand square meters with an annual capacity of 1.5 million tons of cargo.

The cargo village will also be completed with an apron able to accommodate 10 airplanes. The facility could then be used by both domestic and international flights.

PT Angkasa Pura I and PT Angkasa Pura II, in cooperation with the United States Embassy, have launched a workshop on "Global Airports Indonesia 2012" to discuss the concept of an Airport City.

"Global Airport Indonesia 2012 is in line with the PT Angkasa Pura I transformation concept towards the Airport City," Tommy Soetomo, president director of PT Angkasa Pura I said at the opening of the recent workshop.

Regarding the renovation of Terminal 1 and 2 of the Soekarto-Hatta International Airport, Vice CEO of PT Angkasa Pura II Rinaldo J Azi said the project was estimated to cost Rp2.8 trillion.

"The funds will come from the company`s treasury department, bank loans and through the issuance of bonds," he said here on Thursday.

"As of now, the company has Rp2 trillion in cash to fund the project," Rinaldo added.

He stated that the construction project would start in 2014 with the renovated terminals expected to be fully functional by 2015.

The expansion project is also expected to double the annual passenger capacity of Terminal 1 and 2 from 18 million this year to 36 million by 2015.

"Soekartno-Hatta airport is now the 12th busiest airport in the world, after seeing 19.2 percent growth in 2011," Tri Sunoko said during the groundbreaking ceremony.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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