Regent Hopes Batik Air Airlines From The Lion Air Group Belonging To The Conglomerate Rusdi Kirana Can Fly To Kaimana, West Papua

Regent of Kaimana, West Papua Freddy Thie. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Regent of Kaimana, West Papua Freddy Thie hopes that Batik Air airlines from the Lion Air Group can fly to Kaimana Airport as soon as possible to support smooth transportation outside the region.

Regent Freddy Thie in Manokwari, Wednesday, July 13, said that currently flights to Kaimana Airport are only served by one airline, namely Wings Air type ATR-72.

Wings Air planes serve the Manokwari-Kaimana flight route to return three times a week and the Sorong-Kaimana flight route to return six times a week.

"We have signed a memorandum of understanding with Batik Air some time ago. We asked Batik Air to open the Jakarta-Makassar-Kaimana flight route to go home. We have a commitment to make Batik Air fly to Kaimana Airport," said Regent Thie, quoted from Between.

However, in order to realize Batik Air's plan to fly to Kaimana, it takes a lot of improvement in supporting facilities at Kaimana Airport. Currently, the runway of Kaimana Airport is only 2,000 meters long.

Previously, the Kaimana Regency Government planned to make tourism one of the strategic programs as well as a flagship program during the leadership of Regent Freddy Thie and Deputy Regent Hasbulla Furuada who were inaugurated in 2021.

"We want to talk about tourism development, investment development and others, but how about access to Kaimana, that's why we need regular transportation support, one of which is through Batik Air," said Regent Thie.

By encouraging the entry of a fleet of wide-body aircraft such as Batik Air to Kaimana, Regent Thie hopes that the Ministry of Transportation will pay attention to support the development of Kaimana Airport.

The development is expected to include the extension of the runway, the construction of a terminal building and various aviation safety equipment.

"We can't just rely on the very limited APBD. If Batik Air is entered in Kaimana, other supporting infrastructure will automatically be completed," he said.

He also wants Kaimana Airport to become a hub airport for several nearby regencies such as Fakfak and Nabire.

Currently, the Ministry of Transportation is building an international-scale airport in Fakfak, with a disbursed budget of IDR 600 billion to IDR 700 billion.

The same thing was also done in Nabire Regency, which has now been designated as the capital of Central Papua Province.

"If the Nabire and Fakfak airports have not been completed, then we can ask for a hub in Kaimana. We have a runway of 2,000 meters long, our passenger terminal is also better," explained this former successful businessman.

Some time ago Batik Air even conducted a survey to Kaimana Airport to ensure the possibility of landing its aircraft fleet in the area.

"Of course there are records regarding technical matters that they found. I am committed that this item must be carried out, of course we need full support from the Ministry of Transportation. If something is lacking, of course we can fix it while we are walking," said Regent Thie.