Hasyim Widhiarto, Jakarta – "Vested interests" are behind sluggish official efforts to upgrade the nation's antiquated and overburdened air traffic control (ATC) system, despite the potential for midair collisions.

Critics said that plans to separate ATC management from airport operators by 2012, as required by the 2009 Aviation Law, appeared stillborn.

Money may be one reason why state airport operators have been slow to overhaul the nation's ATC system, which has been comprised principally of air traffic controllers directing aircraft on the ground and in the air to avoid collisions.

The ATC business, for example, accounts for at least 10 percent of the revenue of airport operator PT Angkasa Pura II, which manages Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, according to the company.

"Vested interests are at play behind the sluggish process in separating the ATC from the airport management as demanded by law," said aviation observer Alvin Lie.

Alvin, also a former legislator on House Commission V overseeing transportation, questioned the focus of airport operators.

"Today, airport operators handle the management of both airport and air navigation services. Unfortunately, this makes the operator prefer to invest more on improving passenger facilities rather than upgrading its navigation infrastructure, since the latter is far more expensive," Alvin said.

Despite rapid growth in outgoing and incoming passenger numbers, Soekarno-Hatta still presently uses a 26-year-old system, called the Jakarta Automated Air Traffic Service (JAATS), to track about 2,000 aircraft on a daily basis – four times higher than the system's original design capacity.

An incident involving an apparent radar malfunction at Soekarno-Hatta on Thursday delayed all flight services at the airport, again exposing problems with ATC management.

National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia operations director Capt. Ari Sapari said previously that problems with the ATC system could no longer be ignored, as system failures might also lead to far more serious problems, such as mid-air collisions.

Contacted separately, Suharto Abdul Majid, an air transportation researcher from the Indonesia Transportation Society said a system overhaul would not be possible unless the ATC was made an independent institution with its own budget and staff.

"Managerial separation of airport and air traffic services would benefit the public as they will enjoy better airport facilities," he said.

"Once airport operators have handed over the air traffic service business to the new institution, they will be able to focus more on expanding airport facilities."

Angkasa Pura II president director Tri Sunoko said that the company was not delaying ATC system improvements. Rp 1 trillion (US$114 million) has been allotted to upgrade the ATC system at Soekarno-Hatta, Sunoko said, although budget and technical constraints meant that work could not be completed before mid-2013.

"We have thus far avoided collisions because an emergency back-up system is also in use to support the main ATC system," Tri Sunoko said.