Letter: Does Bali need another airport?

Who builds an airport before anyone wants to actually use it? Or before checking if any airlines are prepared to fly there?

Normally airports are built to meet existing demand from tourists or travelers. Not so in Lombok! OK so we can all learn from the mistakes, maybe?

Unfortunately that has not been the case here. In Bali, they plan to build another international airport in the north of the island, about 200 kilometers or about three to four hours from the popular resorts of Sanur, Kuta, Nusa Dua, Seminyak, Ubud, etc.

Only a very small percentage of tourists want to stay on black sand beaches: Just a minority of some scuba enthusiasts and dolphin watchers. Not enough apparently to warrant a decent road to Singaraja, let alone an international airport.

You only need to realize that domestic tourists streaming in via Gilimanuk much prefer to spend hours on the poor road to south Bali rather then one hour to Lovina.

Surely this must lead to some doubts about the feasibility of building another airport without an existing demand in an area not popular or ever likely to be popular with mass tourism.

Has Indonesia got so much money that it can afford to spend it in such an unprofessional manner?

For goodness sake spend the money usefully: On the roads or the shameful waste problem, or maybe even some experts to advice on a sensible and environmental land zoning policy.

Alan Rex
Denpasar