KULON PROGO – Angkasa Pura Airports welcomed the arrival of Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia Jusuf Kalla at Yogyakarta International Airport (YIA) in Kulon Progo on Saturday (05/04).
It was the first working visit of the Vice President to YIA to see whether the airport is ready for the first operational scheduled on May 6, 2019.
The BAe 146/RJ85 aircraft carrying the Vice President and his entourage landed at YIA at 08.20 local time. Departing from Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport in Jakarta, the Vice President was accompanied by the Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi, Angkasa Pura Airports President Director Faik Fahmi, Officials from SOEs, and several mass media.
During the working visit, the Vice President directly observed the airport's airside and landslide facilities and the readiness of the passenger terminal.
"It was a safe and smooth landing which means the runway is good. When international routes start operating later, not only international routes of short distances can be served but also those of longer distances. Regarding accessibility, it needs to be supported by railway lines and highways, but not toll roads so that people can sell their business products,” Jusuf Kalla said on the sideline of the visit.
In the future, he continued, YIA can advance Yogyakarta and Central Java regions, especially the southern part. Meanwhile, Faik said "We are proud and happy to welcome Bapak Jusuf Kalla, Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia to Yogyakarta International Airport today. During his visit, the Vice President's aircraft successfully landed on the YIA runway, proving the airport's readiness for flight operations, both commercial and non-commercial flights as well as domestic and international routes.”
Earlier, Angkasa Pura Airports succeeded in achieving one of the most important milestones in YIA development through a proving flight that was successfully carried out by Citilink Indonesia on May 2, 2019 with routes Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (CGK)-YIA-CGK route, using Airbus A320.
Following the success of the proving flight, Citilink Indonesia will commence its first commercial flight to YIA from Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport (HLP) in Jakarta on May 6, 2019. Batik Air will also open routes from YIA to Aji Pangeran Tumenggung Pranoto International Airport (SRI), Tjilik Riwut International Airport (PKY) in Palangkaraya, and CGK starting May 15, 2019.
The construction of Yogyakarta International Airport is a solution to the lack of capacity of Adisutjipto International Airport (JOG) in Yogyakarta which has limited capacity, contrast to the high demand for flight slots.
"With the construction of YIA, the high demand for flight slots to Yogyakarta will be facilitated," Faik said.
In addition, YIA is one of the airports with the best runway specification in Indonesia. The airport has an airside facility which is ready to operate with a runway of 3,250 meters and width of 45 meters and runway shoulder of 15 meters on each side. The specification of this runway is able to accommodate wide-body aircraft such as the Boeing 777-300 and Airbus A380. The Flight Accident Relief and Fire Extinguisher (PKP-PK) facilities at YIA fall into Category 8.
Meanwhile, the landslide facilities are a terminal with an area of 12,900 square meters, that is ready to be used, from a total of 210,000 square meters for the full operation by the end of 2019. The passenger terminal has 12 check-in counters, two x-rays, two walk through metal detectors (WTMD), 400 waiting chairs, six immigration counters on arrival and departure, and two bag conveyor belts.
