Terminal 3 Ultimate at Indonesia's Soekarno-Hatta Airport Nearly Ready
State-owned airport services company Angkasa Pura II that operates the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport located just outside Indonesia's capital city of Jakarta, says construction of the airport's third terminal is nearing completion. Angkasa Pura II is optimistic that the IDR 5.7 trillion (approx. USD $432 million) terminal will be ready for operations on 26 May 2016. Budi Karya Sumadi, General Director of Angkasa Pura II, said this terminal - called Terminal 3 Ultimate - will be used for international and domestic flights of Garuda Indonesia (which currently uses Terminal 2).
Sumadi added that international flights of other airlines will be able to use Soekarno-Hatta's Terminal 3 Ultimate by March 2017. Terminal 3 Ultimate is designed to handle up to 25 million air passengers per year. However, the terminal will not be able to operate at full 100 percent capacity yet in May 2016. In the first stage of operations (expected to start in May) this terminal can handle 12 million passengers (per year) only. During this first stage only national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia is allowed to use the terminal. Sumadi expects to see a busy period at Terminal 3 Ultimate after operations commence when - after the Islamic fasting month (Ramadan) - millions of Indonesians travel from the cities to their places of origin to visit their families (an annual tradition known as mudik).
After Terminal 3 Ultimate is fully completed in 2017, the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport is envisaged to be (directly) connected to more than 70 countries across the globe (from 30 countries currently). This would imply that Jakarta's airport becomes on par with Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia. It will require more time, however, to become on par with Singapore's Changi Airport, which is directly connected to destinations in more than 100 countries across the world. In order to become on par with its regional counterparts Sumadi emphasizes that infrastructure and services at - and around - the Soekarno-Hatta Airport need to be improved as well.
Faik Fahmi, Director of Commercial & Business Development at Angkasa Pura II, says that after Terminal 3 Ultimate is fully operational in 2017 it is expected to account for around 30 percent of Angkasa Pura II's total annual revenue. Revenue generated at the terminal originates from passenger services as well as the renting out of commercial space (food and beverage, retail and duty free shops).
The building of Terminal 3 Ultimate covers 331,101 m2, its parking space covers 85,578 m2, and the VVIP building covers 6,124 m2. The Soekarno-Hatta International Airport is Indonesia's busiest airport. After Terminal 3 Ultimate has become online the airport's total annual passenger-handling capacity is set to rise from 55 million currently to 70 million.