Adisutjipto international airport in Yogyakarta will be expanded to more than two times of its current size to meet the increasing number of air passengers flying from and to this royal city.

Halendra, operational manager of the airport operator company PT Angkasa Pura I, said that the expanded airport would cover an area of 18,000 square meters, as compared to the current area of 8,000 square meters.

“The Adisutjipto airport’s development and expansion is to meet the growing air traffics, both domestic and international, from and to Yogyakarta,” Halendra was quoted by Kompas.com as saying.

After the 2006 earthquake, the airport was renovated to a new capacity of 1 million passengers per annum. However, since then, passengers increased rapidly to 2.8 million in 2008 and 3.2 million in 2009.

“Currently, we have a number of contractors that have submitted their designs, and we are waiting for the tender process that normally would take about 45 days,” Halendra said.