Work has started on the expansion of Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in order to increase passenger handling capacity to 62 million by the 2014 project completion date.
The expansion of the biggest international gateway in Indonesia holds strategic significance as the country prepares for full integration into the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015.
Paul Andreau, a French architect famous for planning many airports worldwide including Pudong International Airport in Shanghai and Dubai International Airport, has been hired to lead the USD$805.6 million expansion project.
A new apron is planned for a 385,000 sq-m plot to accommodate up to 30 wide-body aircraft. A new connecting facility between Terminals One and Two will serve as a transit hub, with automated people-carriers to transport passengers between terminals. The project also includes a new bus terminal and a railway station for transfers to downtown Jakarta.
According to the transportation ministry, the annual number of passengers passing through the airport reached 51.2 million in 2011; and passenger figures have been predicted to reach 54.1 million by the end of this year.
Source: destination-asia.com
