Press Statement of President of the Republic of Indonesia After Inspection to West Java International Airport (BIJB) of Kertajati, Majalengka City, West Java Province, July 11, 2023

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)

This morning, I am back at Kertajati Airport in West Java province. I am very pleased because the activities at Kertajati Airport have been running very well. Currently, the airport is used for Hajj embarkation for approximately 8,000 pilgrims from seven regencies/cities in West Java province. And secondly, I am also pleased that Kertajati Airport also serves Umrah flights up to four times a week, as well as international flights from Kuala Lumpur to Kertajati twice a week. And, starting in October, it will be fully functional, meaning that flights from Husein Kertanegara Airport will be shifted to Kertajati, especially for jet aircraft. Thirdly, I am pleased that investors from several countries have shown great interest in investing in Kertajati Airport. And, we will make a decision later in October on those who operate and also partake in the ownership of Kertajati Airport. We hope that the traffic will be denser if foreign investors participate in it.

We hope that these efforts, coupled with the completion of the Cisumdawu Toll Road, allowing the journey between Kertajati Airport and Bandung to be reduced to approximately one hour, will also accelerate the development of Kertajati Airport. I need to say that in the initial planning, Kertajati Airport and the Cisumdawu Toll Road were supposed to be completed at the same time, but due to the land acquisition process of the Cisumdawu Toll Road, many problems occurred so that the completion of the toll road was delayed and could not support the operation of Kertajati Airport. After its completion, I believe this airport will become the airport of the future with very heavy traffic.

This concludes my statement this morning. Thank you.

Journalists
Sir, specifically which investors are interested, where are they from, which countries are they from, and what about the value of the investment, and what about the readiness of the airport, sir?

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
I cannot disclose from which country and who the investors are because the process is still ongoing, but they are from several countries, not just one country. And, we hope that before October, it will be completed, it is still in progress. Later, when it is completed, we will reveal, what percentage of their equity we expect, our final goal is that the traffic will be heavier. We hope that the investors’ interest will attract more traffic at Kertajati Airport.

Journalists
When do you aim to move all regular routes, sir? When does the transfer of all regular routes from Hussein to here take place, sir?

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
For jet ones, October. For propeller ones, maximum one year.

Journalists
What sectors do investors prefer? What sectors in BIBJ attract investors?

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
They want equity of the airport, of the airport. Thank you.

(FI/LW)