State Owned Enterprise to Control Air Traffic

Jakarta - The government will establish a flight navigation service firm, Perum Navigasi, on January 16, said Indonesia's State Owned Enterprises Minister, Dahlan Iskan, on Tuesday. Perum Navigasi will enhance the current air navigation system. Previously, air traffic was handled by two government enterprises, PT Angkasa Pura I and PT Angkasa Pura II. According to Dahlan, the Ministry of State Owned Enterprises and the Ministry of Transportation will supervise the new traffic control company. "The new traffic control company will improve the quality of service. It will also look into the safety of passengers. Perum Navigasi will take over the national traffic control function completely in the next one or two years," said the minister. Although there has been an increase in the volume of air traffic in the past few years, the country is struggling to effectively manage the high traffic of planes at its airports. Currently, there are around 200 airports in Indonesia. There are 707 aircrafts operating in the country - 434 commercial planes, 259 chartered planes and 14 cargo planes. The Soekarno-Hatta International Airport is said to be the 16th busiest airport in the world, based on the number of passengers arriving and departing from the airport. It was able to accommodate 50 million passengers in 2011, more than its annual capacity of 22 million passengers. (*)