Jakarta (ANTARA) – Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi has asked state-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura II to add PCR testing facilities at the international arrivals terminal of Soekarno Hatta Airport, which is among the country’s entry points.

“The addition of PCR facility is needed to shorten the waiting time for passengers arriving at Soekarno-Hatta (airport) in undergoing a health screening here,” he said in a statement monitored here on Tuesday.

Currently, the PCR test capacity at Soekarno Hatta Airport  is 200 passengers per hour, he informed.

Therefore, he said adding, PCR testing facilities would help the airport to test more than 700 passengers per hour.

The minister also stressed that strict protocols continue to be implemented at international arrivals to prevent new variants of COVID-19 from entering the country.

Sumadi also called for a temporary restriction on international arrivals while PCR testing facilities are added to prevent overcrowding of passengers at the terminal.

He also requested the integration of aircraft passenger data to facilitate the health screening process for international arrivals.

The minister then lauded all aviation stakeholders who have collaborated to anticipate the entry of COVID-19 new variants, as directed by President Joko Widodo.

Meanwhile, president director of PT Angkasa Pura II, Muhammad Awaluddin, said the airport operator is currently preparing a test laboratory that would be ready within the next two weeks.

“The test laboratory that is currently being prepared at Soekarno-Hatta Airport is a test laboratory with the Bio Safety Level 2 (BSL 2) standard so that the PCR testing for international passengers who just landed at Terminal 3 can be carried out more massively with test results that can be known in just one hour,” Awaluddin informed.

Source: Antara News