Mopah Airport, the Ministry of Transportation Hopes to Improve Eastern Indonesia Connectivity

Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi hopes that the new passenger terminal at Mopah Airport, Merauke can improve connectivity in eastern Indonesia, so that it will have an impact on people's economic growth.

As is known, the new terminal for Mopah Airport is planned to be inaugurated by President Joko Widodo on Sunday, October 3, 2021.

The Minister of Transportation (Menhub) said that the airport development was also a form of the Ministry of Transportation's support for the XX National Sports Week (PON) and XVI National Paralympic Week (Peparnas) in Papua.

"We hope that Mopah Airport can serve the athletes and the official PON and Peparnas teams well," he said through a press release, Saturday (2/10/2021).

Mopah Airport itself is one of the airports prepared to support PON and Peparnas activities, in addition to Sentani Airport in Jayapura and Mozes Kilangin Airport in Timika.

The XX PON sports held in Merauke include paramotor, wushu, wrestling, fencing, women's football, chess, and motor racing/road race.

The Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) has also ensured the implementation of strict health protocols at the airport, such as checking body temperature, disinfecting terminal rooms, and maintaining distance.

In addition, service improvement is also carried out through the arrangement of departure areas, check-in counters, runways, and taxiways.

The development of the Mopah Airport passenger terminal was carried out by the Ministry of Transportation through the Directorate General of Civil Aviation using the APBN allocation of Rp. 141 billion. This development is the first completed phase of a total of three planned development stages.

Currently, the passenger terminal at Mopah Airport has an area of ​​7,200 square meters that can serve up to 638,850 passengers per year.

Development needs to be done to anticipate an increase in the number of passengers in the future. Based on data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, in 2018 the number of passengers at the airport had reached around 440,000 per year.

This is also to balance the ability of the air side of Mopah Airport which already has a runway of 2,500 x 45 meters, so that it is capable of being landed by large-bodied aircraft, such as the Boeing 737-900 and Airbus A320 types.

In addition to reviewing the new terminal at Merauke's Mopah Airport, the Minister of Transportation (Menhub) also visited Wamena Airport.

Wamena Airport is one of the airports in Papua that is a priority for development with a number of other airports, namely Nabire Baru Airport, Ewer Airport, Kepi Airport, and Mozes Kilangin Airport.

Currently Wamena Airport has a passenger terminal covering an area of ​​4,000 square meters, and a runway of 2,275 x 45 meters that can accommodate Boeing 737-300 aircraft.

In 2021, development will be carried out with a value of up to Rp. 50 billion for the manufacture of taxi facilities connecting a rigid apron, and making markings.

The Ministry of Transportation continues to build and develop transportation infrastructure in Papua, in line with the implementation of Presidential Instruction (Inpres) No. 9/2020 concerning the Acceleration of Welfare Development in the Provinces of Papua and West Papua.

SOURCE: https://indonesiatimur.id/2021/10/03/bandara-mopah-harapan-kemenhub-ingkatkan-konektivitas-indonesia-timur/