Komodo Airport Now Can Be Landed Boeing 737, Jokowi Scheduled To Inaugurate Thursday, July 21

Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi visits Komodo Airport in Labuan Bajo, NTT (Photo via Kemenhub)

JAKARTA - Minister of Transportation, Budi Karya Sumadi, inspected Komodo Airport in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) before it was inaugurated by President Joko Widodo.

Minister Budi Karya explained that Jokowi will inaugurate this airport, Thursday, July 21 tomorrow.

"I and Mr. Basuki (Minister of Public Works and Housing/PUPR) came to Labuan Bajo to ensure that the infrastructure in one of these five tourist destinations has been completed properly", said Budi Karya in a statement received in Jakarta, Wednesday, July 20.

The Minister of Transportation revealed that the construction and development of transportation infrastructure carried out in Labuan Bajo was to support the tourism potential in Labuan Bajo.

"We have finished building this airport and currently has a capacity of up to 1 million passengers per year. In the future, we will increase the runway to 2,750 meters", he said.

The Ministry of Transportation through the Directorate General of Air Transportation is developing the expansion of Komodo Airport from 2020 to 2022. The scope of development is on the air side, namely, the extension of the runway from the previous 2,450 m x 45 m to 2,650 m x 45 m, which can accommodate B737 Series aircraft (narrow-body).

In addition, on the land side, the terminal building was expanded to 13,366 square meters and beautified the terminal building with a more attractive appearance for tourists.

The Minister of Transportation further explained, that not only building an airport, the government has also built a new multipurpose port in the Way Kelambu area, which is approximately 10-12 km from the old port in the center of Labuan Bajo.

With the construction of a special logistics port at Wae Kelambu, the old Labuan Bajo Port was also built by the government specifically to serve tourist ships.

These two ports are expected to increase tourism in Labuan Bajo so that it is more advanced and logistics activities are more optimal.

"The Labuan Bajo (Waterfront) port is also planned to be inaugurated by the President tomorrow", he said.

During his working visit to NTT, the Minister of Transportation also visited several areas, namely, inspecting the Tenau Port in Kupang to see the performance of the Sea Toll Road and visiting the construction of an International Freight Terminal at the Motaain Cross-border Post (PLBN) in Atambua.