REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BANJARMASIN -- The Gusti Syamsir Alam airport of Kotabaru in South Kalimantan will be expanded to be able to accommodate wide bodied aircraft of Boeing 737.
A number of facilities of the airport would be expanded to meet growing demand for air transport service in the natural resource rich area, a local official said.
The airport has a runway of only 1,650 meters that could be used only for small aircraft like ATR 72, head of the South Kalimantan regional communications office Haris Karno said here on Tuesday.
Currently the airport is used by ATR 72 aircraft with four flights per day linking Kotabaru and Banjaramasin and Makassar via Balikpapan.
The plan is to expand the runway to 2,400 meters to be able to accommodate wide bodied aircraft like Boeing 737, Haris said.
The extension of the runway is needed with plan to have direct flights between Kotabaru and Surabaya of East Java with license from the transport ministry.
The extension is to be proposed in 2015 with a cost of around Rp40.2 billion.
The Warukin Tanjung airport, which is owned by state energy company PT Pertamina in the regency of Tabalong will also be expanded with additional facilities.
Currently the Warukin airport is 111 hectares with runway 1,400 meters long and 30 meter wide and the taxiway 92 meter long and 18 meter wide.
The airport could be used by small aircraft. It is to be expanded to serve flights with route of Banjarmasin-Tanjung-Balikpapan.
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