International airport operator admits: We’re a mess
The state-owned company that runs Indonesia’s main airport in Jakarta has admitted it is a shambles.
“The title ‘world-class international airport’ is still out of reach,†Tri Sunoko, director of Angkasa Pura II, told the Jakarta Globe.
He added, though, that Angkasa Pura was aware that Soekarno-Hatta International Airport needed to improve its service on many fronts.
“I don’t think many countries have to deal with persistent street hawkers entering the airport, or ticket brokers who roam the premises freely,†Tri said at a company-sponsored seminar in Jakarta.
Officials have said previously they hope to upgrade the facility to meet new standards for international airports as part of the Asean Open Skies Agreement that goes into effect in 2015.
Tri said Angkasa Pura was working on a design for a modern airport, but “it’s a work in progress”.
The company is starting, he said, by renovating toilets and improving check-in facilities.
Tri said he knew many passengers found Soekarno-Hatta Airport uncomfortable, chaotic and messy, and an obstacle course of taxi touts, beggars and scavengers.
He said Angkasa Pura’s own monitoring showed that the number of people doing business illegally at the airport had soared.
In 2008, Angkasa Pura found 1,500 illegal ticket brokers in the domestic terminals but from January to August 2010, that figure had increased to 2,500.
The number of street hawkers apprehended has jumped from 4,200 in 2008 to 9,200 in the first half of 2010.
“You kick them out of the airport and they come back in even bigger numbers,†he said.
According to Tri, the main problem is that the airport was designed to accommodate about 22 million passengers per year but in 2010 more than 40 million people used the various airport services.
Angkasa Pura also has to deal with big shots who think they are above the law.
High-ranking officials, lawmakers and military figures, Tri said, tend to ignore security guards and regulations.
Public policy analyst Ichsanuddin Noorsy said he had surveyed the airport and found many faults, including officials accepting bribes – and filthy toilets.
Ian Jarrett
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