The newly commissioned public airport of Bungku, located in the Central Sulawesi Province of Indonesia, will shortly see its maiden scheduled passenger service.
In the coming weeks, Indonesia Air Transport - IAT (IDA, Jakarta Halim) will begin 6x weekly flights from the airfield to Makassar, in South Sulawesi Province, using ATR42 equipment. According to Netral News, the Head of Morowali's Transportation Office, Harsono Lamusa, said flights that were to have commenced last week were called off after the Ministry of Transportation in Jakarta delayed issuing the airfield an operator's license.
In the meantime, runway expansion works are currently underway in anticipation of greater demand for flights in future.
"It is expected that next year, the airport will be able to accommodate aircraft, with larger capacity, as we are now extending the runway," he remarked. "We are now extending the runway by 400 meters, so that next year, it will be 1,450 meters long."
Morowali District is the largest nickel producing area in Central Sulawesi. Aside from mineral extractive industries, it also has significant tourism as well as palm oil and marine resources that can be exploited. Until the opening of the airfield, Bungku could only be reached via sea or by overland vehicle.
