After years of delay, plans to build a second international airport on a popular holiday island look set to go ahead.
The Indonesian island of Bali attracts millions of visitors each year with its stunning beaches and natural landscapes.
Last year, some 15.4 million tourists flocked to the island paradise as visitor numbers continued to recover post-Covid.
The island currently has one major international airport in the south near its capital, Denpasar, and is close to popular tourist destinations like Kuta and Jimbaran.
Ngurah Rai has a capacity for 24 million passengers but is struggling to cope with increased demand.
Last December, traffic congestion on the roads led to the airport, forcing passengers to abandon their cars and walk to the departure terminal.
“The passenger traffic of the airport in the south has stretched airport resources to their maximum,” an economic adviser to Indonesia’s new President, Prabowo Subianto, told The Straits Times.
President Prabowo has now given the green light to resurrect plans, which were first outlined in 2020, to build a second airport in the north of Bali.
The new airport is expected to serve up to 20 million passengers, or 126,490 flights, a year.
It will also accommodate wide-body aircraft such as the Boeing 777-300 and Airbus A380.
The new transport hub is slated to be built in the Buleleng area, 40 minutes from Lovina and 90 minutes from the picturesque Amed.
Its construction will help develop the northern regions of Bali by opening it up to tourists.
Officials expect the cost of the Northern Bali Airport to be around 50 trillion rupiah or £2.4 billion at current exchange rates.
The plan to build the new airport has not been universally welcomed by Indonesian politicians and business people.
The former Minister of Tourism Sandiaga Uno argued that developing existing airports would make better sense.
For example, he said that Banyuwangi Airport in East Java could be optimised to increase the number of domestic tourists visiting Western Bali.
