Three Local Contractors Compete to Build Kuala Namu Airport

Anton Aprianto, Tempo / Tempo Interactive

Jakarta, 29 November, 2006 (TEMPO) - Three local contractors, PT Wiratman & Associates, PT Virama Karya and PT Citra Konsumalindo, are competing in the tender of Kuala Namu Airport construction in North Sumatra, which is targeted to start in November 2007.

According to Eddy Haryato, PT Angkasa Pura II’s Managing Director, the tender winner will be announced in December. The tender winner, he said, in addition to acting as contractor will also be the technical designer of the airport. “The technical design concept will be worked on for nine months then the construction can begin,” said Eddy. Physical construction that does not require designs, such as roads and water channels, has been carried out since June.

Eddy said he hoped that the airport construction could be completed by the middle of 2009 at the latest.

So it is expected that in November 2009 Kuala Namu can replace Polonia Airport, Medan. “Because, Polonia's capacity will be overloaded in 2009,” he said. It is planned that Kuala Namu airport will be built in two stages. The first stage is the main infrastructure construction such as land side and air side. In this stage, Kuala Namu is targeted to be able to accommodate eight million passengers per year.

The second stage is a finishing stage to be a hub port so that the airport can accommodate 25 million passengers every year. Angkasa Pura II will be the operator and manager of Kuala Namu Airport. The financing of the airport will be borne by Angkasa Pura II and the government.

Eddy explained that the construction of land side including terminal and hangar was estimated would cost Rp1.3 trillion. This fund requirement will be met with Rp600 billion from the company and the remainder by bank loans.

For the air side including runway, navigation system and tower, investment needed is around Rp2.3 trillion, which will be completely financed by the government.