DENPASAR ~

The regional government of the tourist resort province of Bali will accelerate preparations in 2015 for the development of a new airport in Buleleng Regency, an official said.

“We will accelerate preparations in all stages because the project has been included in the National Mid-Term Development Plan,” Ketut Artika, the head of Bali’s Transportation Service, said on Sunday.

He said that next year the project was expected to have entered a number of preparation phases, including its feasibility study and location.

“Although officially, no location has been decided, yet considerations tend to point to the eastern part of Buleleng,” Ketut said.

Other stages of the new airport project included master plan, environmental impact analysis and other studies.

Further they will discuss related its funding whether the airport will be managed by the private sector, government or public-private partnership.

Besides devising a plan for the construction of the airport in Buleleng, the government has also designed a number of supporting studies, such as road infrastructure which will directly heading to the eastern region of Buleleng.

The plan to develop the airport – which is expected to accommodate passengers following the overcapacity of Ngurah Rai Airport, was initiated in 2010.

Ketut said his office had calculated that the number of passengers that could be accommodated by the international Ngurah Rai Airport would reach 14 million in 2015.

Currently, the number of passengers increased by 14 percent per annum and in 2025 the number of passengers is expected to soar to 25 million people.

“Ngurah Rai is potential but it is impossible to construct another runway to match the surge of air traffic capacity, “he said.