Kuala Namu International Airport
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This article or section contains information about a planned or expected new airport.
It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the construction and/or completion of the airport approaches, and as more information becomes available on it. |
| Kuala Namu International Airport | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| IATA: - ICAO: | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | public | ||
| Operator | PT Angkasa Pura II | ||
| Serves | Medan | ||
| Elevation AMSL | ft ( m) | ||
| Coordinates | |||
Kuala Namu International Airport is a new airport under construction to replace Polonia International Airport, site of several crashes, and inappropriately located in the centre of the city of Medan, and with a difficult takeoff path, and short runway. Construction began on 29 June 2006 [1], shortly before the first anniversary of the crash of Mandala Airlines Flight 091. The airport is due for completion in 2009, and it will serve the city of Medan on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. According to the Jakarta Post [2], the airport will cost at least 4.4 trillion rupiah to build, approximately USD 485 million, using the 08 July 2006 exchange rate.
Construction had previously been promised, initially in 1992, following previous crashes and safety concerns (construction was shelved following the Asian monetary crisis), but the airport looks like it will now go ahead. The plan is described in [3], whereby the airport would be located 20km North East of Polonia airport, 3km from the sea, and on a site of area 6.5 x 2.1 km. The new airport will offer greater safety and capacity, with a Phase 1 (2010), first year of operation plan for 6.4 million passengers, of which 5.1 million would be domestic, 1.2 million international, and 0.14 million international transit passengers. By Phase 2 (2025), the airport would be servicing 14 million passengers, 2.5 million international, and 0.63 million international transit passengers.
The airport will be Indonesia's second largest, following Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta airport, and will eventually have capacity of 50 million passengers, a figure if realised today would place the airport in the top 10 busiest by passenger numbers in the world, although by the time this figure is ever achieved it is likely that there will be many airports carrying more passengers.
Airside facilities would be controlled by the Indonesian government, while landside facilities would be owned by a joint venture (with PT Angakasa Pura II) company, which is expected to provide $350 million initial investment, in return for a 30-year lease, after which ownership would revert to PT Angkasa Pura II.
The airport will be linked to the city of Medan by a $215 million railway project. It is hoped that the new airport will lead to more airlines choosing the city as an international transit hub, as it is several hundred kilometres north of Singapore, although the city does suffer with lack of tourist attractions compared to the other regional hubs of Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Bangkok. There are some places of interest in the city of Medan however, like Old Town Medan, Kesawan Square, Merdeka Square, Maimoon Palace (Istana Maimun), Sikh Temple of Medan, Soto Medan (it's a cuisine of Deli), Medan Great Mosque, Medan Crocodile Park, and many others.
In the vicinity you can also find famous Lake Toba and visit Bukit Lawang - a orangutan rehabilitation center.
