Indonesia plans new regional aviation hub in North Sumatra to rival Singapore, Kuala Lumpur
Indonesia plans a new airport hub to rival Singapore’s Changi Airport and Kuala Lumpur International Airport as current regional hubs by expanding the existing Kualanamu International Airport in Medan, North Sumatra.
Plans are to invest $6 billion in an enlargement of the airport in order to draw a significant higher number of stopover and transit passengers traveling on routes between South Asia, North Asia and Australia.
A joint venture between Indian multinational conglomerate GMR Group and France’s Aeroports de Paris Group, GMR Airports Consortium, won a contract to operate the airport together with local state-owned operator Angkasa Pura II.
The companies will form a joint venture called Angkasa Pura Aviasi, which will be majority-owned by Angkasa Pura II. GMR Airports has committed to $3.89 billion to support the expansion as part of a 25-year contract to develop the airport, with the remainder to come from the Indonesian side.
Envisaged 54 million passengers per year
According to a news release by Angkasa Pura II, the new joint venture plans plans to expand Kualanamu airport and boost annual passenger traffic from ten million visitors pre-Covid 19-pandemic to 54 million.
This is as much as Indonesia’s main international gateway Soekarno-Hatta Airport outside Jakarta served before the pandemic, but still fewer than Changi’s 68 million passengers and Kuala Lumpur International’s 62 million in 2019, but Indonesia eventually hopes to catch up on the numbers.
“Kualanamu has a very strategic position, a large capacity and can be scaled up into a world-class airport,” Indonesia’s deputy state enterprise minister Kartika Wirjoatmodjo said, adding it could “reduce the dominance” of Changi and Kuala Lumpur International.
Criticism from the tourism industry
However, some stakeholders in the aviation and tourism industry in Indonesia have voiced criticism over the project, particularly with regards to a lack of transparency in the bidding process for the expansion, and too little information about the details of the project. They also said there needs to be much more done to attract so many passengers, for example the development of more tourist attractions and infrastructure in North Sumatra and surrounding areas for potential stopover tourists.
Other questioned the timing of the project amid the Covid-19 pandemic when there are still many uncertainties whether international air travel would ever recover to its former glory and also about the further development of virus variants which make the progression of the pandemic and its impact on future travel behaviour unpredictable.
[caption id="attachment_37947" align="alignleft" width="300"] Kualanamu International Airport in Medan, North Sumatra[/caption] Indonesia plans a new airport hub to rival Singapore’s Changi Airport and Kuala Lumpur International Airport as current regional hubs by expanding the existing Kualanamu International Airport in Medan, North Sumatra. Plans are to invest $6 billion in an enlargement of the airport in order to draw a significant higher number of stopover and transit passengers traveling on routes between South Asia, North Asia and Australia. A joint venture between Indian multinational conglomerate GMR Group and France’s Aeroports de Paris Group, GMR Airports Consortium, won a contract to operate...
Indonesia plans a new airport hub to rival Singapore’s Changi Airport and Kuala Lumpur International Airport as current regional hubs by expanding the existing Kualanamu International Airport in Medan, North Sumatra.
Plans are to invest $6 billion in an enlargement of the airport in order to draw a significant higher number of stopover and transit passengers traveling on routes between South Asia, North Asia and Australia.
A joint venture between Indian multinational conglomerate GMR Group and France’s Aeroports de Paris Group, GMR Airports Consortium, won a contract to operate the airport together with local state-owned operator Angkasa Pura II.
The companies will form a joint venture called Angkasa Pura Aviasi, which will be majority-owned by Angkasa Pura II. GMR Airports has committed to $3.89 billion to support the expansion as part of a 25-year contract to develop the airport, with the remainder to come from the Indonesian side.
Envisaged 54 million passengers per year
According to a news release by Angkasa Pura II, the new joint venture plans plans to expand Kualanamu airport and boost annual passenger traffic from ten million visitors pre-Covid 19-pandemic to 54 million.
This is as much as Indonesia’s main international gateway Soekarno-Hatta Airport outside Jakarta served before the pandemic, but still fewer than Changi’s 68 million passengers and Kuala Lumpur International’s 62 million in 2019, but Indonesia eventually hopes to catch up on the numbers.
“Kualanamu has a very strategic position, a large capacity and can be scaled up into a world-class airport,” Indonesia’s deputy state enterprise minister Kartika Wirjoatmodjo said, adding it could “reduce the dominance” of Changi and Kuala Lumpur International.
Criticism from the tourism industry
However, some stakeholders in the aviation and tourism industry in Indonesia have voiced criticism over the project, particularly with regards to a lack of transparency in the bidding process for the expansion, and too little information about the details of the project. They also said there needs to be much more done to attract so many passengers, for example the development of more tourist attractions and infrastructure in North Sumatra and surrounding areas for potential stopover tourists.
Other questioned the timing of the project amid the Covid-19 pandemic when there are still many uncertainties whether international air travel would ever recover to its former glory and also about the further development of virus variants which make the progression of the pandemic and its impact on future travel behaviour unpredictable.
