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Jakarta/ AFP
The main airport serving the Indonesian capital Jakarta has opened a new terminal that will allow the overcrowded aviation hub to handle tens of millions more passengers a year. Air passenger numbers are soaring in Indonesia, the world’s biggest archipelago nation and Southeast Asia’s top economy, as a growing middle class increasingly chooses to fly but ageing infrastructure is struggling to keep up.
The $380 million terminal at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, a vast, futuristic-looking structure, will be able to handle about 25 million passengers a year once fully operational by March next year. The other three terminals at the country’s busiest airport are currently handling about 60 million passengers a year, way over their capacity. The first flights, domestic services by flag carrier Garuda, took off early Tuesday. The terminal will start off handling only domestic Garuda flights before later running international services. Speaking at the terminal opening, Garuda chief executive Arif Wibowo hailed it as a “great milestone” that will help provide a better service for customers.