Pangkalpinang - The Bangka Belitung (Babel) provincial administration in Indonesia is making preparations for the extension of Depati Amir Airport`s runway to enable wide-bodied planes including Airbus 320s to land.
"A tender for the extension of the runway is entering the final phase. Physical work on its construction will start in May 2008 and will be completed in October 2008," the head of the airport`s monitoring section at the Babel provincial transportation and tourism office, Guritno, said on Monday.
The runway would be lengthened to 2,250 meters from 2,000 meters at a total cost of Rp7 billion (US$763,000), he said.
The runway`s extension is part of a Rp800 billion project which also includes the installation of a landing system instrument at the airport to help airplanes land at a visibility of 1,000 meters.
The project also includes construction of a new terminal, waiting room, and apron.
Babel Governor Eko Maulana Ali said the expansion of the airport was urgent to ensure the success of the Visit Babel Archie 2010 program.
He said he had lobbied a number of airlines to fly from Singapore and Malaysia to Babel.
"We have discussed a plan to open the flight route under the frame of the Islamic Malay World (DMDI) cooperation, the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) and the Indonesia-Malaysia-Singapore Growth Triangle (IMS-GT) schemes," he said.
Source: www.antara.com (30 April 2008)
