Indonesia's air space is getting busier. In 2012, there were more than 1.5 million flights in and out of the archipelago -- more than double the previous year.
It is a result of an unprecedented boom in air travel. The country saw double-digit growth in passenger volume over the last five years, but its aviation infrastructure has barely kept up.
The radar system, for example, has failed on several occasions at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta airport. Built more than 25 years ago, it was not designed to track 1,200 aircraft movements on a daily basis.
Captain Bambang Adisurya, a director at the International Federation of Airline Pilots Association, said: "This has been discussed many times at international forums. They've said the same thing.
"For example, their aircraft were put on hold upon entering Soekarno-Hatta airport. They've also lamented during our conversations that flying into Indonesia is always crowded."
Captain Bambang, who is also a pilot with Garuda Indonesia, felt that delays are inevitable -- a result of overcapacity at major airports.
Indonesia's are traffic controller has plans to ease the situation. It is investing US$250 million over the next three years for an air traffic flow management system.
It will help air traffic controllers compute, with precision, all aircraft movements in and out of Indonesia -- thus cutting down delays.
Amran, director of air traffic management at AirNav Indonesia, said: "In 2016, the time we implement initially the air traffic flow management, we aimed for a 15 minutes cut in delays for about 30 per cent of the total aircrafts. We expect that there will be 3,000 movements in that year. In 2017 for instance, our target is for aircraft to only face a two or three minute delay."
Indonesia used to have three air traffic control operators, each with its own system of traffic management. A series of air disasters five years ago led the International Civil Aviation Organisation to recommend that Indonesia use just one operator.
AirNav is now the only one managing Indonesia's air space. It is responsible for air traffic control in more than 150 airports across the country. That includes dozens of military air bases which are open for commercial use.
Captain Bambang added: "Jogjakarta airport is an example where it is also used by military planes for training. Its runaway and apron are quite narrow. When we fly into the airport, we've been regularly told to hold for up to 20 minutes because the air traffic is heavy due to military training."
Like several air bases in Indonesia, the one in Bandung, West Java, has been turned into an international airport. It now serves about 30 schedule flights a day -- in addition to military use and a private flying school.
The Indonesian government is rushing to upgrade existing airports and build new ones to accommodate over 70 million air passengers, a number that is still growing. This includes replacing out-of-date systems that could potentially cause accidents.
However, it require time and huge investments. So until that happens, travellers getting in and out of Indonesia can expect delays of at least 30 minutes, especially at major airports such as Jakarta.
SOURCE
About time they invest some money into the traffic system with the congestion and growth rate they're experiencing. However, how much of this money will really go into the improvement of the system awaits to be seen, if you know what I'm talking about.
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