DirectRooms.com – Indonesian president to open new airport in Lombok

The beginning of March will see the airport being dedicated by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono after all security and safety checks have been completed. Once all the test runs have been finalized the President will be at the ceremony for the opening which is taking place nearly a year behind schedule.

The project has suffered a series of problems and delays due to arguments over land rights, security problems and the stealing of construction materials. There have also been questions asked over the quality of the runway and technical issues related to the control tower but these are all set to be solved before March.

The airport is expected to bring many more visitors to the island and the government is looking to reach a target of 1 million tourists to both Lombok and neighbouring Sumbawa by 2012. The rise in visitor numbers will result in more people using hotels Lombok and will see further development of the area.

Lek Boonlert, marketing head at DirectRooms.com commented: "The construction of the airport will better serve both Lombok and Sumbawa and will greatly affect the number of visitors travelling to the two destinations. Hotels in Lombok are going to be much busier and demand will sometimes be greater than availability so before travelling people should search for the best places to stay."

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