Airportman.id – Since it was built in 1974, Batam Hang Nadim Airport (BTH) has had at least two Airport Master Plans approved by the Ministry of Transportation of the Republic of Indonesia as the basis for the development of airport facilities. The Master Plans include the Decree of the Minister of Transportation Number: KP 8 of 2011 concerning the Master Plan for Hang Nadim Airport in Batam City, Riau Islands Province and the Decree of the Minister of Transportation number: KM 47 of 2022 concerning the Master Plan for Hang Nadim Airport in Batam City, Riau Islands Province. With the ratification of KM 47/2022 in March 2022, KP 8/2011 is declared invalid.

In KP 8 of 2011 in Table 1, the Forecast of Demand for Batam Airport Air Transport Services is written in the first stage of 2018 the traffic of passenger movements has reached 15.8 mppa (million pax per annum) and stage II in 2033 the traffic jumped to more than 32 mppa. However, the 2018 passenger movement traffic realisation is still only at 5.6 mppa.

As for the airport facility development plan to be built in KP 8/2011, the passenger terminal and cargo terminal expansion, the addition of the number of parking stands to the construction of the second runway with a length of 3,500 meters. The existing runway has dimensions of 4,025 meters x 45 meters.

KM 47 of 2022 has a slightly different forecast plan for passenger, aircraft and cargo movements from KP 8/2011. In stage 1, BTH will be developed to have a capacity of up to 7.2 mppa; in stage 2, BTH will be increased to 14 mppa, and in the ultimate stage, BTH will be expanded to a capacity of 33.8 mppa.

In the next 20 years, BTH is expected to increase its capacity from 5 mppa to 33.8 mppa or six times its initial capacity. In phase 1 at KM 47/2022, to serve a passenger capacity of up to 7.2 mppa, the airport operator will build a new passenger terminal (terminal T2) with an area of 100,000 m2, expansion of public parking to 36,866 m2 and the aircraft apron to accommodate 44 parking stands (38 PS to serve passenger aircraft and the rest for freighter/ cargo planes). The existing passenger terminal (T1) has an area of 31,000 m2 with a capacity of up to 5 mppa.

In stage 2, to serve up to 14 mppa, the operator will expand the apron to accommodate 76 parking stands (PS) and expand the passenger terminal T2 to 168,357 m2. Phase 2 is built when the passenger terminal capacity has reached 85% of its maximum capacity.

In the ultimate stage, BTH is planned to have a second runway with dimensions of 3,600 m x 45 m. In addition, at this stage, the 62,269 m2 passenger terminal will be built (T3), and the construction of a 41 parking stands apron in T3. So that at this ultimate stage, BTH will have approximately 117 PS, a passenger terminal with a total area of 210,000 m2. For the construction of airport operational support facilities such as engineering buildings, powerhouse buildings, etcetera., it is adjusted to the needs of each stage. In KM 47, it is also planned to build an airport city with CBD/non-aero commercial development with a land area of 99 ha, an MRO extension area of 108 ha and a hi-tech industrial area reaching 278 ha. In the layout below, the facilities division for stage 1 can be seen from the red shading, stage 2 shading in yellow, and stage 3 shading in green.

Besides Batam's Hang Nadim Airport, Riau Islands has another airport, namely Raja Haji Fisabilillah International Airport on Bintan Island (TNJ). Previously, this airport was named Tanjung Pinang Airport, and now it has added 10 times the initial capacity to accommodate passenger movements of up to 1 million passengers per year. The airport is only ±50 km from BTH. Another airport built in the near future is Bintan International Airport (BIA). This airport is only ±25 km from BTH, with a target capacity of reaching 8 mppa within the next 20 years. BIA is planned to serve long haul flights from Europe. BIA will focus on serving international passengers who will vacation in Bintan Island villas. TNJ Airport will still serve domestic flights.

With no less than 3 airports, airport stakeholders, in this case, the regulator, together with airport operators, airlines and air traffic controllers, need to agree on the positioning of each airport and the distribution of destinations served. This positioning aims, among other things, so that the planning and development that will be and have been carried out are targeted, efficient and effective to meet the needs of airport users and airport stakeholders. If the division of destinations has gone well, these 3 airports are indirectly one of the pilot multiairport systems that have been successfully implemented in Indonesia.

According to the author, the positioning of the 3 airports includes: BTH Airport as a hub airport for Western Indonesia for domestic flights and serving international flights in Southeast Asia, Asia to Japan. BTH airport is also a hub for cargo flights. BIA focuses on serving international long haul flights to Europe and TNJ Airport as a feeder for BTH & BIA Airports, which serve flights around Riau Islands using propeller aircraft.

In your opinion, how is the distribution of traffic for the 3 airports?