INDUSTRY members in Bandung are pushing for a new airport terminal at the Husein Sastranegara International Airport to accommodate growing traffic to the destination.
Association of the Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies (ASITA) West Java board member and Batik Holidays managing director, Maktal Hadiyat, said: “Bandung is now a destination on its own. New airlines such as Firefly from Johor Bahru to Bandung, and the local Sky Aviation are coming in. Once the overlay of the terminal is over, AirAsia is changing its aircraft from the Boeing 737 series to the Airbus 320 with bigger capacity.”
Travellers who used to depend on the airport in Jakarta to get to Bandung can now fly direct.
“I was told that about 30 per cent of Sky Aviation’s Jakarta-Tanjung Karang traffic was actually headed for Bandung. That’s why the airline opened the Bandung-Tanjung Karang (route) recently. We definitely need a new terminal,” Maktal said.
Kalutama Travel director, Reza Novaldi, said: “There really is growing number of visitors to Bandung, both directly from Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, and AirAsia is planning to add domestic routes from Padang, Palembang, and Semarang (to the city).
“The overlay of the runway, which is expected to finish in May, is delayed due to the weather. This means capacity increase may be delayed. But more than that, Bandung’s infrastructure definitely needs upgrading to accommodate traffic growth.”
PT Angkasa Pura II Husein Sastranegara Airport general manager, Eko Diantoro, recently told local media that rains were the cause of delay. He said construction on the terminal building was expected to begin at the end of the year.
