Hari Cahyono, Angkasa Pura II’s corporate secretary, said this week that his office was looking at different options to finance the project, including bank loans, an initial public offering and finding a strategic partner or partners.

“Finding a strategic partner and bank loans are the most viable options right now because a lot of investment is required. An IPO and bonds are other options that we are looking at but they are less feasible as they require lengthy processes,” he said.

Hari said Soekarno-Hatta had been in desperate need of a revamp and expansion for five years, but the need was never addressed because of the lack of funding and government support.

“It would take a major commitment from all of the concerned parties to help us materialize this plan because Soekarno-Hatta is the gateway to Indonesia,” he said.

Soekarno-Hatta was built in the early 1980s and was only ever meant to handle up to 22 million passengers a year, he said. Last year about 44 million people passed through Soekarno-Hatta, making it the 13th busiest airport in the world.

“At the pace the aviation sector is growing, we can’t afford to delay this any longer,” he said.

Angkasa Pura II estimates that the number of passengers passing through the airport each year will reach 54 million by 2015 and 66 million by 2020. Those figures are based on an assumed growth of 4.1 percent to 5.7 percent for air travel in the region.

The expansion would increase Soekarno-Hatta’s annual passenger handling capacity to 62 million, Hari said. Work could start next year and be completed in 2014 if financing is secured, he said.

It would also increase apron capacity to 174 aircraft from 125, and see the construction of a new cargo terminal that would raise capacity to 1.5 million tons from 500,000 tons.

“A third runway and a fourth terminal are also in the pipeline but would not happen until 2014,” Hari said. He said this was because of land availability.

The new building, provisionally called the Integrated Building, would be built between terminals 1 and 2. A small tram would run between the two.

Terminals 1 and 2 would each have a central check-in area. Work on Terminal 3 would focus on completing its second pier and main building, as well as an expanded taxiway.