Airportman.id – This time we will discuss the history of the selection of Yogyakarta International Airport in Kulonprogo. This article aims to share experiences on how a location is chosen to become an airport, complete with all the main and supporting facilities.

Selecting a new location for the construction of a new airport is certainly not a simple process and takes years. It is necessary to conduct a comprehensive and in-depth analysis study to determine the airport's location. The New Airport in Yogyakarta, Kulonprogo is no exception. The process of selecting a new location in D.I. Yogyakarta began with the signing of the MoU for the construction of a new airport in Yogyakarta between P.T. Angkasa Pura 1 (Persero) or AP1 with the Regional Government D.I. Yogyakarta on January 25, 2011. After that, P.T. Angkasa Pura I (Persero) cooperated with UGM Center and GVK India for 2 years. Finally, in 2013 the Ministry of Transportation issued the Decree of the Minister of Transportation number: KP 1164 of 2013 concerning the Determination of the Location of a New Airport in Kulonprogo Regency, D.I. Yogyakarta Province. From 2015 to 2016, P.T. Virama Karya conducted a follow-up study in the form of a basic design and development study.

The stage of land acquisition covering an area of ±583 ha was carried out for two years until 2018. Construction of the airport construction began in July 2018 to 2020. The airport, later named Yogyakarta International Airport, was inaugurated by the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Ir Joko Widodo, on August 28, 2020. Since the beginning of the study, the selection of a new airport location until it is officially operational took no less than nine years for the airport to be fully operational.

New Airport Development Background

Adi Sucipto International Airport – Yogyakarta (JOG) is an airport located in Kapanewon Maguwoharjo, Sleman Regency, Yogyakarta Special Region. This airport was initially built in 1940 and began to be used as a military airbase by Militaire Luchtvaart, Royal Dutch Air Force, in 1942. Since August 17, 1952, the Maguwo Air Base has officially changed its name to Adisutjipto Air Base. In 1964 the Adisutjipto Air Base began to be used by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation as an airport for civil aviation. The expansion of the passenger terminal started in 1972 and was again expanded five years later. On April 1, 1992, following P.P. number 48 of 1992, Adisutjipto Airport was officially managed/operated by Perum Angkasa Pura 1.

Since being operated by P.T. AP1, passenger movement traffic at Adisutjipto Airport continues to increase. In the first year, JOG Airport was operated by P.T. AP1 passenger movement traffic is still around one million passengers. Passenger traffic has reached nearly five million passengers per year in the next twenty years. According to the Decree of the Minister of Transportation number K.M. 51 of 2008 concerning the Master Plan for Adisucipto Airport - Yogyakarta, it is stated that the maximum capacity of JOG Airport is only up to 6.4 million passengers. To achieve this capacity, JOG Airport needs to expand its airport facilities, including the expansion of the terminal to 30,000 m2, an apron, and the extension of the runway to 2,500 m. However, the high growth of passenger traffic has caused the maximum capacity of JOG Airport to have been exceeded in 2015. In 2018 passenger traffic at JOG Airport has reached 8.4 million passengers per year. It is predicted that in the next 20 years, passenger traffic will grow to 20 million passengers per year. Meanwhile, the existing passenger terminal area of ​​8,300 m2 ideally accommodates 1.7 million passengers. 

The airport's expansion to catch up with passenger growth requires extra effort because the area around the airport is already crowded with settlements and other buildings. If the airport is extended to the north side, it will have to move the rail line or 'straddle' it. On the west side is the aerospace museum area belonging to the Indonesian Air Force. The south side is the Indonesian Air Force area. The east side is a densely populated residential area. With an area of only ±112 ha, JOG Airport requires an additional area of up to 200 ha to increase its capacity to 20 million passengers per year.

Limited land for airport expansion and the increasing growth of passengers at JOG Airport while the maximum capacity has been exceeded are some of the main reasons for the need for a new airport in the Special Region of Yogyakarta.

New Airport Location Selection

In the process of selecting the airport location, the initiator of the airport construction, in this case, PT. AP1 and the consultant will determine several alternative airport locations that will be assessed for the feasibility of these locations to become the location for constructing a new airport. Aspects considered in the assessment include the feasibility aspect of conformity with the regional development plan, technical feasibility, operational feasibility, etc. From the assessment results, two alternative locations (shortlist) will be selected, which will be analyzed in more detail to select the final location for the new airport in D.I. Yogyakarta.

To determine which locations are alternative candidates for new airport locations, P.T. AP1 carries out several activities such as site surveys in all areas in DIY that allow for airport construction, literature studies related to topographic conditions, land, regional regulations related to the RTRW (Spatial Plans), etc. Finally, 6 alternative locations for the new airport were chosen, namely: Selomartini, Sleman Regency, Gading airport in Gunung Kidul Regency, Gading Harjo in Bantul Regency, Bugel in Kulonprogo Regency, Temon in Kulonprogo Regency, and Bulak Kayangan also in Kulonprogo Regency. (Figure 1)

From the results of the discussion P.T. AP1 with consultants and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, there are several minimum requirements for the selection of airport locations, including:

• It has a form of land that allows building a runway in an east-west direction because the surrounding airport has a runway direction from the west-east.
• The location has flat land;
• The location has a minimum landform of 1.1 km x 5.4 km;
• The site has minimal obstacles, especially in the landing and take-off areas;
• The site is outside the volcanic eruption zone;
• The site has a minimum of settlements to facilitate the process of relocating the population;
• The site can be reached in one hour from the center of Yogyakarta City;
• The site is not an active mining area; and
• In line with local regulations.

From the field survey and literature results, the study found that the land is flat and suitable for airports, among others, in Gading Harjo, Bugel, and Temon. (Figure 2)

For land that has minimal obstacles with no obstacles in the take-off and landing area, these include Selomartini, Bugel, Temon, and Bulak Kayangan. (Figure 3)

Meanwhile, land with relatively few settlements to be relocated is all locations except Bulak Kayangan.

After conducting various assessments of the above aspects, two selected locations (shortlists) were produced, followed by a more detailed analysis, namely Gadingharjo and Temon in Kulonprogo Regency. For a more detailed discussion of the study to the selection of Temon as the location of the new airport, we continue in part 2.