Jakarta Globe, Putri Prameshwari & Ulma Haryanto | August 07, 2010
Jakarta. Indonesia’s air transportation industry suffered a fresh embarrassment onFriday morning after a power outage of less than two seconds at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport created hours of chaos and delayed 62 flights.
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| A massive queue at Soekarno-Hatta on Friday. The outage delayed 62 flights and cast doubts on the nation’s aviation sector. (JG Photo/Safir Makki) |
Tri Sumoko, director of Angkasa Pura II, which manages airports in the western part of the nation, said the power outage at 4 a.m. lasted only 1.7 seconds, but some flight management systems took hours to recover.
“The power was only down for 1.7 seconds, and then the main generator took over andprovided power for mandatory systems, like navigation and runway lights,” Trisaid. “However, the check-in system and the computerized X-ray system are not part of the mandatory facilities and it took a while for them to recover.”
The incident raises questions over Indonesia’s capacity to truly compete under Asean’s eagerly awaited agreement to impose an open-skies policy in 2015, which would liberalize regional passenger and cargo air transportation.
Tri explained that part of the problem was the airport was designed before mass computerization. “At that time, check-ins were still done manually. So nobody thought about making them a mandatory facility for the back-up generator,” hesaid.
By the time the airport’s computer systems had all returned to normal at 8 a.m., 62 flights had been delayed and thousands of passengers were left stranded and increasingly angry. Flights from Polonia airport in Medan and Ngurah Rai in Bali also had to be delayed until late afternoon because of the outage.
DahlanIskan, director of state electricity utility PLN, said the blackout was not caused by a disruption in its electricity supply. “The power outage was caused by a technical problem in the airport’s electrical circuitry,” he said.
Tengku Burhanuddin, secretary general of the Indonesia National Air Carriers Association, said airlines were paying for the delays. “The losses could add up to many thousands of dollars,” he added.
Candra Widyarjana, a passenger booked on a Lion Air flight to Yogyakarta at 6:15 a.m.,said he missed three flights. “I missed my original flight because the check-in queue was so long,” he said. “Nobody knew about rescheduled flight times. Nobody knew where I should go to fly to Yogyakarta.”
Tri denied that the airport operator had failed to provide passengers with enough information, but acknowledged that officials there were ill-prepared for such situations.
“We will immediately audit our system and map out which components need to be improved, ”he said. Other airports under the company’s management would also soon undergo the same process, he added. Improvements would take time, but “it is better than doing nothing at all.”
Asked whether passengers should be prepared for similar incidents in the future, he answered, “hopefully not.”
In December, Soekarno-Hatta’s power went out for 20 minutes, causing similar delays, but the resulting chaos was not as bad as Friday’s. Tri said the airport had not been as busy in December, and systems had been able to recover faster on that occasion.
Eko Roesni, secretary general of aviation watchdog People for Indonesia Air Transportation, said the blackouts raised questions over the airport’s quality as an international hub.
“How can it become an international hub open 24/7 if blackouts like this still happen? ”he said.
The Ministry of Transportation plans to make Soekarno-Hatta and the main airports in Surabaya, Medan, Bali and Makassar international hubs prior to the Aseanopen-skies policy change in 2015.
Eko said the government must thoroughly re-evaluate airports in Indonesia, including Soekarno-Hatta.
They must “stay up to date with the latest technology,” he said, adding that even short blackouts can ruin the image of the country’s aviation industry.
On Monday, the International Air Transport Association urged the government to invest more resources into aviation.
Giovanni Bisignani, director general of the IATA, said Indonesia lagged well behind its neighbors in aviation, and ridiculed the 25-year-old Soekarno-Hatta airport as far past its prime.
“Soekarno-Hattawas a wonderful airport but if you see it now it could be a nice resort or a golf club. The only thing that’s missing is a swimming pool,” he said.”
Additionalreporting by Made Arya Kencana, Aidi Yursal, Amir Tejo & Antara
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