“Where exactly am I?” you might ask. You are in Tuban in Bali. Specifically Tuban, Kuta is a village in Badung Regency. It is a place served by Ngurah Rai International Airport.
Ngurah Rai International Airport is the main airport of Bali. It is also known as Denpasar International Airport. This airport is only 13 kilometers from Downtown Denpasar. It serves the Denpasar metropolitan area and the whole island of Bali.
Ngurah Rai is Indonesia’s second busiest airport. It is a popular hub in Asia. In 2018, it served over 23 million passengers. Upgrades have boosted Bali’s popularity. The airport is now known worldwide.
The airport has category IX. It can handle wide-body aircraft. These include the Boeing 747-8 and Airbus A380. In 2016, Airport Council International called Ngurah Rai the world’s third best airport. This was for airports with 15-25 million passengers each year.
Ngurah Rai International Airport is named after I Gusti Ngurah Rai. He was a Balinese hero. He died fighting the Dutch in 1946. The Dutch defeated him with air support. He and 95 others died.
The airport is in Tuban. It lies between Kuta and Jimbaran. It is near downtown Denpasar.
The Tuban airfield was established in 1931. It was built at the narrowest point on Bali’s southern coast. The Dutch built a simple 700 m long airstrip. It had a few huts and a grass runway. The northern end was in the Tuban village graveyard. The southern end was on vacant land. This location allows arrivals and departures over the ocean. This minimizes noise over populated areas.
In 1942, the airstrip was used for fighter and bomber operations. Japanese forces bombed it. It was repaired with pierced steel planking. The Japanese seized the airport on February 19, 1942. A poorly motivated garrison of 600 Dutch-led Balinese militia deserted. The Japanese took the airfield intact.
During the occupation, the Japanese improved the runway. From 1942 to 1947, they extended it to 1,200 m. Many Balinese saw the Japanese as liberators. The taking of Tuban airfield deprived allied forces of a fighter staging field. At the time, the airport was still called Tuban Airfield. It was named after the local fishing village.
In 1949, a terminal building was built. A simple wooden flight control tower was erected. In 1959, President Sukarno developed the airstrip further. The new facilities were part of a $13 million renovation project.
To allow jet aircraft to operate, the runway was extended westward into the sea. An international airport was developed. The government rebuilt the terminal building. It extended the runway by 1,200 m to a length of 2,700 m. This project was named Project Tuban Airport. International air service began on August 10, 1966.
The terminal buildings were extended. A new international terminal building was built from 1965 to 1969. On August 1, 1968, President Suharto inaugurated Ngurah Rai International Airport.
The earlier runway extension disrupted natural sand flow. By 1975, passenger volumes overburdened the older terminal. A new international passenger terminal was completed in 1978. The old International Terminal became the Domestic Terminal. The old Domestic Terminal became the Cargo and Catering facilities building.
In 1980, management of Ngurah Rai International Airport was passed to Perum Angkasa Pura. In 1986, it became Perum Angkasa Pura I. In 1989, major airport improvement works were undertaken. These included a landing strip extension to 3,000 m.
In 2000, the airport recorded almost 44,000 flights. They carried over 4 million passengers. By April 2011, the airport handled 11.1 million passengers a year. This exceeded its capacity of 8 million. In November 2013, a new international terminal opened. In September 2014, the domestic terminal opened. It can accommodate 25 million passengers a year until 2025.
The airport is constantly evolving. It is a vital gateway to Bali. It reflects the island’s growth and importance in the world.