Sultan Hasanuddin Airport, The Gate of South Sulawesi

 

Welcome to South Sulawesi, that is the sign that you will see when you arrive in Sultan Hasanuddin Airport. Yes, this is a gate of South Sulawesi beside the other gate such a bus terminal and Soekarno Hatta port.

This modern building actually the new airport after the old airport become too small and become a little bit panting to serve a thousand passengers who come and go from this province. The new one it is absolutely bigger than the old one. This new building it looks so modern and pretentious, thanks to Jusuf Kalla a former vice president of Indonesia who was born and derived from this province.  Mr. Jusuf Kalla gives a lot of help during the establishment of this new airport.

Sultan Hasanuddin Airport was inaugurated and began to use in 2008. Since that, this airport becomes one of the busiest airports in Indonesia. A few years back, the price of airplane ticket becomes a lot cheaper than before. This condition makes a lot more people choose to travel using an airplane and of course this is causing a crowded in the airport. Specially on a rush hour.

Although looks so modern and pretentious but Sultan Hasanuddin Airport still have some weakness. The first weakness is the acoustic of the building. It is very hard to hear what the announcer says because the voice it’s not bouncing very well.

The other weakness it’s the rest room condition. It is very easy to find a rest room that is not cleaned very well. The smells it is not very good and of course there is a bunch of water in the floor. Some of the closets even not work at all. Not all the rest room are in the bad condition but unfortunately some of them are.

There is one annoying things that immediately found soon as we step out from the arrival gate. a minute after we cross the door, some man will swarmed us and offer their service. They are a taxi driver, car rental driver and some ojek (a motorcycle that use as a taxi) driver. Sometimes their seems like don’t take a no from us. Even though we keep say no, they keep offering their service persistently. Very annoy.

There are several tips to avoid this condition. First, if you are really need the taxi or rent car then you should take one of them before stepped out the airport. There is several taxi and rent car service in the building. This could help you to avoid dealing with the driver out there who waits for you just like a hungry tiger. There are 3 rings based on a distance of your destination from the airport. It is vary between Rp. 30.000,- to Rp. 100.000,-

Secondly, if you think you don’t need to take a taxi or car rent you can just obey them. There is a bus that can take you out from the airport to the downtown. You just need to walk to the outer side of the airport. They won’t let you go easily but sure you can act just like they’re not appearing. The bus will cost you Rp. 15.000,-. But you must be careful because the bus only operated between 8 AM to 6 PM.

So that is a little picture about the gate of South Sulawesi. Welcome to the South Sulawesi, here is the place where you can find a lot of pleasure and of course a lot of story to tell.