Kualanamu International Airport

Kualanamu Airport Exterior

Polonia airport was the site of several accidents. It is located in the center of the city of Medan (which, although convenient for transit purposes, precluded further expansions), has a challenging takeoff path and a relatively short runway. The development of Kualanamu Airport initiated in 1991. In a visit to Medan, Azwar Anas, Minister of Transport at the time, stated that for the sake of aviation safety, a new airport would be developed outside of the city of Medan.[4]

Preparation of construction began in 1997, but the Asian Financial Crisis that started in the same year postponed the development of Kualanamu Airport. Demand for the new airport continued following the Mandala Airlines Flight 091 accident in September 2005 that occurred shortly after taking off from Polonia for Jakarta. This accident killed the incumbent North Sumatran governor at that time Tengku Rizal Nurdin and his predecessor Raja Inal Siregar, who died 1 day later from injuries. This accident also involved ground casualties with at least 50 casualties, as the airport is very close to overcrowded residential areas and the runway was only 3,000 meters, which although considered long for European standards, is short for Indonesian standards due to it being at a lower latitude from the equator, meaning it is warmer and as a result the air is thinner, which ultimately means that longer runway distances are needed.

All 1,365 hectares of land was acquired between 1995 and 1997 and with the certificate Exploitation Rights (Hak Pengelolaaan) Number-1 on November 29, 1999 and 100% of the land belonged to PT Angkasa Pura II. Between 1999 and 2006, some people used parts of the land illegally as agricultural land and PT Angkasa Pura II offered them monetary compensation to move elsewhere. Construction resumed on June 29, 2006,[5] shortly before the first anniversary of the crash of Mandala Airlines Flight 091. Jusuf Kalla, vice President of Indonesia at the time, laid the first cornerstone.[6] This marked the construction of Kualanamu after several years with no progress. It was predicted that the airport would be completed by 2010.[7] With land acquisition as the biggest hurdle for this project, the airport's opening was delayed until 2013 due to lack of local government awareness.[8]

A soft opening to the public occurred on 25 July 2013. The airport's first commercial departure was a Garuda Indonesia flight GA 181 bound for Jakarta at 05:00 WIB. The first international departure was Indonesia AirAsia flight QZ 8078 bound for Penang at 05:15 WIB. The first domestic arrival was Lion Air flight JT 397 from Banda Aceh at 07:00 WIB. The first international arrival was Indonesia AirAsia flight QZ 8079 from Penang at 07:30 WIB.

Kuala Namu International Airport was officially inaugurated on 27 March 2014 by incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

2nd floor waiting room

The airport is Indonesia's third largest, after Soekarno–Hatta International Airport and the new Kertajati International Airport, with a 224,298 m² passengers terminal[9] and will eventually have a capacity of 50 million passengers (2030), 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 achieved it is likely that there will be many airports carrying more passengers.[10] Kualanamu Airport has an automatic baggage handling system, thus becoming the first airport in Indonesia which does not need baggage porters.[11]

The airport is equipped with a single 3,750 x 60 meter runway, a 3,750m and 2,000m long parallel taxiway capable of accommodating wide-body aircraft, including category - F jets such as the Airbus A380, Boeing 747-8, and Antonov 225.[12][13] It also includes an apron area measuring 664 m² capable of handling 33 aircraft. It also has a 13,000 m² cargo area that can handle 3 carriers with 65,000 tonnes/annum and 50,820 m² parking capacity with 405 taxis, 55 busses, and 908 cars. Covering on 1,365 ha of land, 20 km North East of Polonia airport, 3 km from the sea, and on a site of area 6,5 x 2,1 km.[14] Phase 1 of the new airport has a capacity to serve 8 million passengers annually, but at early 2014 has served 8.3 million passengers annualized. Phase 2 will start construction in mid-2015 to serve 25 million passengers.[15] Phase III expansion of the airport will include expansion of the runway to allow the airport to accommodate wide bodied aircraft of Airbus 380-800, and expansion of cargo area to 24,715 square meters from 13,450 square meters at present, and expansion of passenger terminal to 224,256 square meters to increase the capacity from 9 million passengers to 17 million passengers annually, which will start in 2018. The airport operator AP II also planned to develop a 200 hectare plot of land for commercial area outside the passenger terminal. The commercial area will be built with an "airport city" concept with 3, 4 and 5 star hotels, a hypermarket, office building, hospital and movie theater.[16]

Currently, the ILS system in used is ILS CAT I for both Runway 05 and 23. Arrivals and departures are usually directed to Runway 23 while Runway 05 will be used pertaining to wind direction.

Airside facilities would be controlled by the Indonesian government, while landside facilities would be owned by a joint venture with PT Angkasa Pura II, which is expected to provide $350 million as an 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 $10.7 million railway project.[17] An 18 km highway is under construction improving the airport's road connection to the city of Medan. It will cost $1.5 billion and will have 4 interchange, 4 underpasses, 7 flyovers, and 3 toll gates.[18]

The airport is the first in Indonesia with a publicly accessible check-in area (current Indonesian airports restrict access to ticket holders with security at the gate). This means a much larger and more spacious check-in area than the existing airport. The airport is designed by Wiratman & Associates, who had also designed several other new airports and office buildings in Indonesia. Computer renderings showing a T-shape design are on the company's website.[19] Another rendering and masterplan can be found in Angkasa Pura II website.[20][21] Also a visualization of the future airport video.[22]

Kualanamu International Airport is plotted to be a Regional Hub as South Korea's Incheon International Airport brother airport, so on June 25, 2012 an agreement has been signed of both party operators. Incheon operator will assist Kualanamu operator to become Regional Hub with world-class standards.[37]

In early 2014, Flying Fox Airways is still processing the hub license.[38] On May 1, 2014 Indonesian Flag Carrier Garuda Indonesia opened flight from Medan to Jeddah as extension of Makassar-Medan.[39]

In June 2015, Kuala Namu received a certificate from Skytrax as a "4-Star Airport", the first Indonesian airport to receive such title.[40]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kualanamu International Airport.

• Official Website of Kualanamu International Airport
• Official Website of Angkasa Pura 2
• Medan Airport - Indonesia Airport Global Website
• Indonesia Economic Masterplan 2011-2025 Retrieved January 12, 2013
• Railink Indonesia