Banjarmasin, (Antaranews Kalsel) – Air Asia plans to serve direct flights from Syamsudin Noor Airport Banjarmasin to Kuala Lumpur, three times a week, are Wednesday, Friday and Sunday with Boeing A-320.
Head of Air Transport Department of South Kalimantan Transportation Agency Iskandar Ismail , said in Banjarmasin Tuesday the airlines has been submitted the plan to the Agency and South Kalimantan Province Regional Secretary Arsyadi in a two-day working visit.
Following up the request, the provincial government is now preparing a permit to the Ministry of Transportation to make Syamsudin Noor an international airport.
Ismail said, the target permission to be Syamsudin Noor International Airport is expected to be out up to November 2013, so the end of the year or early 2014 the plan can be realized.
In addition to Air Asia, Silk Air has also filed a permit and make a presentation to the Governor of South Kalimantan and PT Angkasa Pura to serve aviation Banjarmasin - Singapore directly.
With these two international airlines request, it is expected to be a condition that Syamsudin Noor International Airport can be met, in addition to various other facilities to be prepared.
According to Ismail, South Kalimantan potential for direct international flights served big enough, not merely to the economic development and investment, but also for tourism, especially for spiritual tourism.
Hajj Embarkation
Meanwhile, Iskandar Ismail also revealed that the Transportation Agency with South Kalimantan parliament will come to the Ministry of Transportation to inquire about the threat of removal of Syamsudin Noor Airport as hajj embarkation because it can not accommodate large-size aircraft.
Based on the information, Syamsudin Noor no longer serves as hajj embarkation, because of the decree of the government of Saudi Arabia, which requires assembly departure with bigger aircraft with a capacity of 500 people. Meanwhile, Syamsudin Noor can not accommodate aircraft with the capacity, because its runway length is only about 2,500 meters, while for large aircraft runway length of 3,500 meters.
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