Jakarta airlines move back to Halim Airport

Halim Airport in Jakarta was the city’s main airport until 1985, when the new Soekarno-Hatta International Airport opened to replace it.

Since then Halim has been a base for government and military flights, plus a few domestic operators and air taxi companies. I had the pleasure of taking an airside tour there in 2004, and noted lots of old airliners stored around the airfield, and a few cargo operators also making use of the facility.

Now, news has surfaced that Garuda’s Citilink subsidiary, along with Merpati Nusantara, and the new Lion Air subsidiary Batik Air, are all to relocate operations to Halim airport from early 2013.

The move is to help combat the severe overcrowding at Soekarno-Hatta, which receives more than double its designed capacity.

It is understood that the move would be a temporary one, whilst Angkasa Pura (AP) II, the planning agency, constructs additional apron space at Soekarno-Hatta and modifies Terminal 3 to handle more passengers. They will also assess the future role of Halim to make sure best use is made of Jakarta’s airport facilities.