VIVA.co.id reports how the Indonesian government has spent trillions of rupiahs building impressive infrastructure, including constructing many new airports.
Sadly, many of the lavish new airports are now idle and in a state of suspended animation due to a lack of flights and passengers.
To cite four examples, here are four “failed” airports that have been developed at tremendous expense but have failed to attract a requisite flow of flights and passengers:
JB Soedirman Airport, Purbalingga
President Joko Widodo inaugurated JB Soedirman Airport on June 1, 2021, at a construction cost of Rp. 350 billion. However, the new airport remains quiet due to a lack of scheduled flights. After its grand inauguration, the “new” airport was used by Citilink Airlines for the Jakarta-Purbalingga-Jakarta route. Still, that route was closed in August 2022, presumably due to a lack of passengers.
Ngloram Airport, Blora
Ngloram Airport was inaugurated in December 2021 with a construction budget of Rp. 80 billion. Inaugurated with great fanfare, the airport has no operating flight schedule.
Wings Air had briefly used the airport for the Pondok Cabe-Ngloram route, but the route was closed due to lack of passengers.
Wiriadinata Airport, Tasikmalaya
Wiriadinata Airport was inaugurated in February 2019 for Rp. 30 billion. Immediately after opening, the airport was idle due to a lack of passengers. More than 3 years after its “official inauguration” in August 2022, Susi Air opened flights from this airport to Halim Perdanakusuma Airport, Jakarta.
Kertajati Airport, Majalengka West Java International Airport
Kertajati was built at a massive cost of Rp. 2.6 trillion and inaugurated on May 24, 2018. In terms of size, Kertajati is the second largest airport in Indonesia after Soekarno Hatta. In what appears to have been a major miscalculation, the airport stopped serving regularly scheduled flights in July 2019 due to a lack of passengers and flights.
These four airports are examples of the irony of infrastructure development in Indonesia, where large investments are sometimes made for reasons of politics and prestige, without expert planning addressing passenger and flight demand.
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