Surabaya airport looking desperately for capacities

SURABAYA- With Japanese fundings, Surabaya Juanda Airport inaugurated back to 2006 a brand new air terminal conceived for 8 million passengers a year. Less than a decade later, the same terminal sees close to 16.5 million passengers a year and authorities are now scratching their head to accommodate the influx of air travellers. Especially as forecasts indicate that passengers traffic is likely to continue growing, this time.
Here comes then Terminal 2. In fact, it used to be the old Surabaya Airport terminal but has been closed after the opening of the new facility in 2006. The old terminal is now under refurbishment and will get a complete new look for its reopening by the end of the year. It will then help to accommodate another 4 to 5 million passengers, slightly below the requested capacity. The refurbishment of the facility is estimated to cost US$ 95 million.
The terminal would then serve to accommodate all the traffic of national carrier Garuda. The airline announced at the end of last year to turn Surabaya into a regional hub. A fleet of up to 5 CRJ Bombardier would then be stationed in the city and serve up to a dozen destinations. Early this year, the carrier opened flights from Surabaya to Lombok and Semarang in Central Java followed in July by four weekly frequencies to Singapore. Garuda links also Surabaya to Bali, Balikpapan, Jakarta, Makassar and Yogyajakarta.
However, plans have also been announced for a third terminal with another capacity for six million passengers. Some 100 million would be necessary with a feasibility study being conducted now. If it all goes according to plans, necessary authorizations could be give by the middle of 2014 while construction could start by 2015. The investment could represent up to US$ 720 million. 
The airport company Angkasa Pura 1, which manages Surabaya Airport, also recently annonced to build another runway north of Terminal 1. The 3,000-meter runway is expected to facilitate air traffic to and from Juanda, which currently stands at 360 planes daily.

Sourced: TravelDailyNews