Kertajati Airport Claims to Attract Investors from Saudi Arabia and India

Photo: Doc. Angkasa Pura II

JAKARTA - West Java International Airport (BIJB) or Kertajati Airport is claimed to have attracted foreign investment, especially from the Middle East.

There are factors that make Kertajati Airport attractive, namely the operation of the Cileunyi - Sumedang - Dawuan (Cisumdawu) Toll Road. This toll road facilitates access to Kertajati International Airport (BIJB), Majalengka Regency.

At the same time, two investors have reportedly begun to express their interest in developing BIJB. According to the Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) report, the two investors came from Saudi Arabia and India.

"The development of Kertajati Airport has attracted the interest of several parties from India and Saudi Arabia. They have expressed interest in developing Kertajati Airport," wrote the Ministry of Transportation in a written statement quoted Monday, July 31.

To note, the government is currently intensively holding various meetings to discuss investment opportunities for the development of Kertajati Airport through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme.

In order to further encourage investor interest, the passion for aviation at Kertajati Airport continues to be encouraged. One of the efforts is that the government will present intermodal integration in the form of buses to travel agents.

Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi explained that preparations for intermodal integration are targeted to serve regular commercial flights in October 2023.

“Setting up land transport shelters takes around 3 to 4 months. Therefore, I asked the West Java Provincial Government to discuss integration efforts from Kertajati Airport to other cities and provinces and vice versa. Apart from that, I also asked the West Java Provincial Government to curate travel agents who have good records," explained the Minister of Transportation Budi Karya.

Previously, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) was optimistic that the Kertajati airport would start to move along with the inauguration of the operation of the Cisumdaru Toll Road some time ago.

"We hope that after the completion of the Cisumdawu toll road, the Kertajati airport will be fully operational in October. Now the Hajj flights have started," Jokowi said some time ago.

Meanwhile, the construction cost of the 61.6-kilometer Cisumdawu toll road itself was reported to have consumed a budget of up to IDR 18.3 trillion, with half of the budget or IDR 9.08 trillion coming from the State Budget, the rest through PPP (Government Cooperation with Business Entities) and the private sector.