Minister Of Transportation Checks Readiness Of Ngloram Blora Airport

Minister of Transportation (Menhub) Budi Karya Sumadi inspects the readiness of Ngloram Airport facilities/PHOTO VIA ANTARA

BLORA - Minister of Transportation (Menhub) Budi Karya Sumadi reviewed the readiness of Ngloram Airport facilities, ahead of the opening of commercial flights at the airport located in Cepu District, Blora Regency, Central Java.

Budi Karya said, on November 26, 2021, the inaugural flight will be carried out at Ngloram Airport.

"It is planned that Citilink will make its inaugural flight," he said, quoted by Antara, Wednesday, November 10.

He explained that his review this time was to Ngloram Airport to check the readiness of a number of airport facilities, both on the air side such as runways, safety fences, fire engines, and so on.

There are also on the land side such as passenger terminal buildings, and other facilities are also a concern.

The Minister of Transportation wants to ensure that airport facilities meet safety aspects ahead of the start of commercial flights.

“I have seen earlier that the terminal building is very beautiful, because the construction was carried out by the architect who won the airport design competition. God willing, when it is operational, it can run well," continued the Minister of Transportation.

The Minister of Transportation said that the government is building connectivity in areas and small cities on the island of Java, one of which is by building an airport that can accommodate ATR-72 aircraft.

The goal is to reach out to and from these areas more evenly.

"For example from Jakarta - Cepu, Jakarta - Cilacap, or Jakarta - Pangandaran can be reached faster by plane. This makes connectivity more certain and development in the regions more even," he said.

Ngloram Airport began to be built by the Ministry of Transportation through the Directorate General of Air Transportation from 2018 to 2021. Previously, Ngloram Airport was an airport owned by PT Pertamina which was built to support the company's operations and has not operated since 1984.

Currently, Ngloram Airport has a runway of 1500 mx 30 m, taxiway 142 mx23 m, Apron 90 mx60 m and a Passenger Terminal covering an area of 3,526 m². In its construction, it involves the surrounding community through labor-intensive programs that absorb a lot of labor.