Bali airport capacity to be increased using these 8 steps

The Bali airport started as a simple 700 meter airstrip built by the Dutch in 1931. Since then it has grown exponentially and is expected to serve more than 20 million passengers in 2017 (both domestic and international).

Even though the Bali airport has undergone a major upgrade in 2014 it is now already bursting at it seams again. The Indonesian Ministry of Tourism and the Bali Airport management are now making plans to again expand the airport to further increase the capacity.

Continue here to learn about 6 useful Apps to have in Bali.

These are the proposed plans to increase the annual passenger capacity for Bali;

The Patra Bali Resort & Villas to become a terminal

The Patra Hotel is built right next to the Bali airport. It is operated by a subsidiary of Pertamina which is the Indonesian state-owned oil and natural gas corporation based in Jakarta.

The idea is to convert the Patra Hotel area into a new terminal and extra apron space for planes to park at the Bali airport. Adding a terminal and extra parking space for planes will allow the Bali airport to take a larger capacity of passengers.

Bali airport existing plan

 

 

Bali airport expansion plan

 

Refuse small-size planes during peak hours

The passenger capacity from a propeller plane is about 40 to 70 passengers. Large size jet planes can take three or four times that much. The idea is to no longer allow small size planes (propeller) to arrive or depart from the Bali airport during peak hours or 13:00h to 19:00h. This will allow more slot time for large size jet planes bringing a larger volume passengers.

Sleep elsewhere …

The smaller propeller planes (such as the ATR 72-500 / ATR 72-600) will no longer be allowed to RON (Remain Over Night) in Denpasar. They will be asked to overnight elsewhere instead. There are now 12 airports throughout Indonesia that allow free overnight parking (RON) to to relieve pressure from overcrowded airports such as Bali (source: Jakarta Globe).

New Bali airport (North-Bali)

This idea has been floating for at least 10 years if not more. However, as the overcapacity situation at the Ngurah Rai international airport is in its 11th hour this option of a new airport in North Bali seems to get closer to a reality. Several plans have been put forward already including a plan for a floating airport built on reclaimed land along the coast of North Bali. This new airport in North Bali may then possibly become the destination of budget airliners or domestic flights.

Other ideas …

… considered to increase capacity are;

  • Build a rapid exit taxiway towards the end of the airstrip
  • Change the daily runway check from 17:00 – 17:15 to 21:00 – 21:15
  • Amend the standard operation procedure to increase the runway capacity from 25 movements per hour to 27 movements per hour
  • Change the operational hours from the airports in NTT & NTB

Do you feel that Bali is ready for an increase in visitors? Let us know in the comments …

 

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