JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) – The Indonesian capital’s airport opened a new terminal Tuesday after years of operating at far above its passenger capacity.
Domestic flights for national carrier Garuda began operating in the morning from Soekarno-Hatta airport’s steel and glass $560 million Terminal 3. Its international flights will shift to the new terminal next month.
Other airlines will gradually move their flights to the terminal and the airport company plans to start refurbishing two old terminals, built in 1984 and 1992, later this year.
Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 250 million people, is one of world’s fastest growing air travel markets.
But many international airlines bypass the capital Jakarta in favor of modern, high-capacity airports at Bangkok, Singapore or Kuala Lumpur for their Southeast Asian stopovers.