In a move to further boost its appeal to international travellers, Bintan Resorts, a Singaporean investment located in the Riau Archipelago (Indonesia) launched last year the construction of an international airport.
BINTAN- Visitor arrivals to Bintan Resorts, on the Indonesian island of Bintan, reached a new high of 470,470 in 2011 but this record will soon be greatly surpassed once the new airport being planned is operational.
A ground breaking ceremony for the Bintan Resorts International Airport was held last August in Busung, Kuala Lobam – just a 30-minute drive south-west of the increasingly popular beach destination of Bintan Resorts. Billed as the first private international airport in Indonesia, the airport is scheduled to open in mid 2015.
“This latest project is a further reflection of Bintan Resorts’ commitment to push ahead with a slew of enhancements and upgrades to boost its destination appeal”, explained at the time BG (Ret) Chin Chow Yoon, Executive Chairman of Bintan Resorts International, at the ground-breaking ceremony. He added that, “with greater accessibility to the resort destination, this airport project will serve to enhance the value of the many investments already made here and to attract more investments in new resorts, holiday homes, food & beverage, retail and attractions, especially at the newly master planned Lagoi Bay Development”.
To be built at a cost of S$100 million by Gallant Venture Ltd, the parent company of Bintan Resorts International, the airport project will see participation by both local and international parties. The airport will feature basic and modest features, including one terminal building for a start, a 2.5km runway and ancillary facilities such as a control tower, fuel storage and a fire/rescue centre. With this currently planned configuration, the airport will accommodate planes like the Boeing 737s and Airbus 320s with a flying radius of about five hours. This would put much of ASEAN as well as southern China and South India within reach. With ample space for runway expansion in the future, the next phase of development will see the capacity of the airport increased to cover a flying radius of seven hours or more.
The airport will serve mainly domestic routes, chartered flights from regional cities, as well as private jets and the cargo needs of the industrial estates. As such, not only are tourism activities expected to increase, but also the industrial development on the island.
While the bulk of visitors to Bintan Resorts currently come from Singapore via a fast (45 minutes) and frequent ferry link, the new airport will see the proportion of visitors coming directly to Bintan grow. Nevertheless, the original concept of Singapore and Bintan as complementary twin-destinations will still be maintained and strengthened with two international airports instead of one, serving Singapore and Bintan.
Coupled with the on-going developments at Lagoi Bay in Bintan Resorts, which include the building of new beach resorts, holiday villas, retail & lifestyle hub and a range of outdoor amenities and attractions, visitor numbers are expected to climb to over one million by 2015. Currently Bintan is accessible by air via the airports of Batam and Singapore Changi.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
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