New Airport: Mimika, Papua

Mimika is constructing a new airport to reduce the isolation of remote areas in the regency, says a local official. Chief of the local air transportation office, Markus Raturoma, said the new airport, already under construction, was located in Tsinga village, a mountainous area in Tembagapura, 1.9 kilometers above sea level.

Raturoma said the regency administration had received financial and technical assistance from copper and gold mining company PT Freeport Indonesia, which owns an airport near its mining site in Timika according to a JP article.

The new airport’s 500-meter runway would allow small aircraft such as Twin Otters, Casas and Cessnas to land, he said.

He said the local administration also planned to construct a similar airport in Ombani, in Tembagapura subdistrict, and to procure a Pilatus Potter aircraft, at a cost of about Rp 20 billion, from Switzerland to help advance development and public services.

Two charter aircraft, belonging to Trigana Air and Associated Mission Aviation, already serve air transportation in the province, the regency says.

Due to a lack of ground transportation, remote areas in the province can only be reached by small aircraft.