Bali to build second airport in Buleleng

  Ngurah Rai International Airport

Bali administration plans to build another international airport in Buleleng regency on the northern part of the tourist island.

Governor Made Mangku Pastika said the second airport would be needed to anticipate the fast growing number of tourists visiting the island, which the existing Ngurah Rai airport would not be able to accommodate in the future.

“The new airport will avoid an overcrowded traffic of airplanes at Ngurah Rai,” Pastika told Antara news agency on Saturday.

The airport receives two million foreign tourists and over two million domestic tourists annually.

Pastika said the construction of a new airport was expected to accelerate development in the north, which is lagging behind south Bali in terms of welfare.

Buleleng was the capital of Bali and Nusa Tenggara province in the past.

Pastika said, however, a plan to expand the Ngurah Rai airport would go ahead despite the proposal to build an airport in Buleleng.