The central government and the regional government are serious in developing small airports in Central Java to support the high mobility of residents.

“The small airports that are being developed are Ngloram Airport in Blora Regency, Dewandaru Airport in Karimunjawa Islands, and Wirasaba Airport in Purbalingga,” Central Java Transportation Department Satriyo Hidayat in Semarang on Thursday (31/10).

According to him, the three airports have the serious attention of the central government and the Central Java Provincial Government to support air transportation, tourism mobility, or economic growth. He mentioned that the runway at Ngloram Airport would be extended to be 1,200 metres by the end of 2019 to accommodate air charters that use ATR-42 or ATR-72 aircrafts.

The runway in Dewandaru Airport in Karimunjawa is set to reach 1,400 metres until the end of the year, while it is set to reach 1.600 metres by 2020 or 2021.

“If Dewandaru Airport has been developed, it can be operational until night as it is currently only operational until 05:00 PM WIB (Western Indonesian Time). We are installing lighting [facilities] until the end of the year,”

He said that the plan was for Central Java Provincial Government to cooperate with the central government in 2020 to carry out land acquisition, so the runway that spans 1,600 metres could be built in the first stage of the airport construction.

“A runway spanning 1,600 metres can accommodate ATR-72 [aircrafts]. There are many ATR-72s in Java,” he said.