Incheon airport seeks to develop Batam airport into ASEAN's next gateway

Incheon International Airport Corp., the operator of Incheon International Airport, seeks to develop Indonesia’s Batam Hang Nadim International Airport into an ASEAN gateway capable of accommodating 25m passengers a year by 2046, its operator, PT Bandara Internasional Batam, said, Wednesday. IIAC signed a public-private partnership with the Batam Indonesia Free Zone Authority (BT Batam), which manages the Batam airport, in a consortium with Indonesia’s state-owned airport operator and construction company in April 2021. The 600b won ($463m) deal is IIAC’s first overseas airport operation and development project, under which the company will renovate, manage and develop the airport’s existing passenger terminal and a new passenger and cargo terminal for 25 years. Built in 1973, the Batam airport is the Southeast Asian country’s one of five international airports and can accommodate up to 5m passengers in its facility renovated by Hyundai E&C in 1997. The airport had 4.2m passengers and transported 43,800 metric tons of cargo in 2019. By year-end, it is forecast to receive 4m passengers whose overwhelming 98% are domestic travelers.<br/>