Foreign investors eyeing Indonesia's airport needs

[JAKARTA] Indonesia's need for more and better airports is drawing strong interest from foreign transport and construction companies, hungry for a slice of the action in one of world's the fastest growing markets for air travel.

Next month, Indonesia is expected to ease regulations to allow foreign companies, such as India's GVK Power & Infrastructure and South Korea's Incheon International Airport Corp, to manage and operate airports in what is already the world's fifth largest domestic air travel market. "After this (change in the) law in Indonesia, all airport operators will be showing an interest," said Turkish airport operator TAV Havalimanlari Holding in an e-mailed statement.

Indonesia's airports, many of which are operating at two to three times above their designed capacity, are crying out for investment after years of scant government funding, inefficient bureaucracy, and unending disputes over land rights.