Soewondo Air Force Base
Soewondo Air Force Base Pangkalan Udara Soewondo | |||||||||||
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AMSL 114 ft / 35 m | | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 03°33′29″N 98°40′18″E / 3.55806°N 98.67167°E | ||||||||||
Website | www | ||||||||||
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Statistics (2012) | |||||||||||
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Soewondo Air Force Base (
.At the end of its service as civil airport, Polonia was the fourth largest airport in Indonesia after
All flights and services from this airport shifted to
Now as Soewondo Air Force Base, the
History
The airport's former name is taken from the plantation area owned by a
In 1879 the concession was handed over to Deli Maatschappij (Deli MIJ) or NV Deli Maskapai. In 1924, Dutch KLM test pilot N. J. Thomassen à Thuessink van der Hoop planned to fly on a Fokker F.VII in a pioneering flight from the Netherlands.[8] Therefore, Deli MIJ who controlled that piece of land handed it over for the land to become the first airstrip in Medan.
By the time the news had arrived, it was too late to prepare a proper landing strip at Polonia. As a result, van der Hoop, together with
.After this first landing, the Assistant Resident of Eastern Sumatra
In 1975, according to a joint decree issued by the Department of Defence and Security, Department of Transportation, and Department of Finance, the airport was jointly managed between the Indonesian Air Force and the Civil Aviation. From 1985, according to the Government Regulation No. 30-year 1975, the management became the responsibility of Perum Angkasa Pura which subsequently became PT Angkasa Pura II (Persero) after 1 January 1994.
Polonia Airport is now closed to commercial aviation and replaced by Kualanamu International Airport.
The airport's last arrival on 24 July 2013 was
After the ferry flights were completed, all of the Polonia Airport's activity officially shifted to Kualanamu International Airport. Polonia Airport is now used as an air force base.
Facilities
The airport is located on 144 hectares land area. There is a single asphalt runway (05/23) which is 3000 m long and 45 m wide, but has only 2,900 m of usable length. There is no run-off space beyond the runway thresholds, and the airfield is surrounded by residential areas.[9] It is often said that its location in a residential district, the wealthy Polonia area, is due to a superstition that the loud noises from aircraft drive away malevolent spirits.
Until recently, the airport consisted of an international and domestic terminal. A fire in the international arrivals area in 2006 caused damage to the airport, reducing the baggage reclaim area to a small section inside the terminal. On 2 December 2007, the domestic terminal was damaged by another fire.[10] There were no injuries, and the separate international terminal was not affected.
The airport suffered from overcrowding, serving 7,5 million passengers annually in facilities designed to handle only 900,000 passengers. The other problems were no orderly parking space for taxis, too many porters and garbage control.[11] These problems should be resolved by the construction of Kualanamu International Airport. Construction commenced 29 June 2006. It became Indonesia's 2nd-largest airport after Soekarno–Hatta International Airport and commenced operations on 25 July 2013.
Once, there was a dilemma of whether or not to upgrade Polonia International Airport, due to the delay of the finishing of the new Kualanamu International Airport. This dilemma made PT Angkasa Pura II pledge to fix access roads between Mustang Street and Imam Bonjol Street.[12]
Traffics and statistics
Year | Passengers movements | Aircraft movements | Freight movements |
---|---|---|---|
2000 | 1,158,382 |
20,632 |
18,881
|
2001 | 1,510,489 |
23,300 |
21,809
|
2002 | 2,090,518 |
29,894 |
23,969
|
2003 | 2,736,332 |
36,359 |
24,067
|
2004 | 3,693,290 |
43,865 |
29,320
|
2005 | 4,033,073 |
55,218 |
32,125
|
2006 | 4,597,268 |
50,512 |
32,780
|
2007 | 5,456,558 |
54,238 |
50,580
|
2008 | 4,816,852 |
52,737 |
48,843
|
2009 | 4,913,735 |
50,303 |
49,272
|
2010 | 6,238,977 |
58,438 |
35,709
|
2011 | 7,170,107 |
61,755 |
47,254
|
2012 | 7,890,796 |
67,966 |
58,813
|
Accidents and incidents
- On 11 July 1979, a Mount Sibayak while on approach to Medan-Polonia airport. All 61 passengers and crew on board were killed.[17]
- On 4 April 1987, Garuda Indonesia Flight 035, crashed into power lines and a television aerial in bad weather as it attempted landing at Medan-Polonia. 22 of the 45 passengers and crew on board were killed.
- On 18 June 1988, Vickers Viscount PK-MVG of Merpati Nusantara Airlines was damaged beyond economic repair when it suffered a hydraulic system failure and departed the runway.[18]
- On 26 September 1997, Garuda Indonesia Flight 152, an Airbus A300, crashed into woodlands 18 miles short of Medan-Polonia airport. All 234 passengers and crew on board were killed. Flight 152 is the worst aviation disaster in Indonesia history.
- On 5 September 2005, Mandala Airlines Flight 091, crashed shortly after takeoff from Polonia. Of the 120 passengers and crew on board, 100 were killed. Another 49 people on the ground died as a result of the crash. It is the deadliest aviation accident involving the Boeing 737-200 series.
- On 30 June 2015, an Indonesian Air Force Hercules C-130 crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all 121 on board and 22 people on the ground in one of Indonesia's worst Lockheed C-130 Herculescrashes.
See also
- List of airports in Indonesia
- Kuala Namu International Airport
References
- ^ "Airport information for WIMM". World Aero Data. Archived from the original on 5 March 2019.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) Data current as of October 2006. Source: DAFIF. - ^ Airport information for MES at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective October 2006).
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "Medan-Soewondo Air Force Base profile – Aviation Safety Network". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
- ^ Biro Pusat Statistik, "Perkembangan Pariwisata dan Transportasi Nasional Bulan Juli 2006 Archived 24 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine" No. 45/IX/1 September 2006
- ^ Ridin (31 May 2011). "Polonia finishes access road improvement". Waspada Online. Translated by Bangun, Ananta Politan. Archived from the original on 2 September 2011.
- ^ "Kuala Namu International Airport to operate July 25". 17 July 2013.
- ^ The Jakarta Post, 24 July 2013
- ^ Paul van Weezepoel, "Dutch Aviation History". Retrieved on 2008-07-06
- ^ M Radzi Desa (12 November 2003). "Photo of final approach to runway 05 Medan". Airliners.net. p. 1. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 24 December 2007.
- ^ "Fire destroys terminal at Indonesian airport". International Herald Tribune. Reuters. Archived from the original on 8 February 2008. Retrieved 23 December 2007.
- ^ Sis, Rany Listyawati (9 May 2011). "Analyst: Polonia must tackle management issue". Waspada Online. Translated by Bangun, Ananta Politan. Archived from the original on 2 September 2011.
- ^ Ridin (24 May 2011). "AP II promises to fix Polonia access roads". Waspada Online. Translated by Bangun, Ananta Politan. Archived from the original on 2 September 2011.
- ^ "Polonia International Airport". Retrieved 30 December 2012.
- ^ "Polonia International Airport". Retrieved 30 December 2012.
- ^ "Polonia International Airport". Retrieved 27 February 2013.
- ^ "2009 Statistics" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 May 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
- ^ "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
- ^ "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
External links
- Current weather for WIMM at NOAA/NWS
- Accident history for MES at Aviation Safety Network