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View all search resultsUncertainty looms over northern Bali airport project
While many locals welcome the potential economic benefits, others have voiced concerns about the airport’s impact on Bali’s environment and culture, especially as the holiday island is already grappling with overtourism and overdevelopment.
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Passengers look at an electronic board displaying cancelled flights at the Ngurah Rai International Airport in Badung regency, Bali on March 21, 2025, after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) erupted, shooting dark ash 8 kilometers into the sky. (AFP/Sonny Tumbelaka)
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early a decade after it was first proposed, plans for a new international airport in northern Bali remain in limbo, with no confirmed location or construction timeline, despite the government’s renewed promises to fast-track the ambitious project.
Endah Purnamasari, Director General of Air Transportation at the Transportation Ministry, said the ministry has the authority to determine the location of the new airport. However, several key documents must be submitted before any proposed site can be approved.
“The Bali administration has proposed a potential location, but we still require a location feasibility study, an airport master plan, recommendation letters from the governor and local leaders and a letter of commitment from the project initiator to provide the required land, in line with regulatory requirements,” she said over the weekend, as reported by Kompas.com.
The statement came shortly after PT BIBU Panji Sakti, the project’s initiator, announced that groundbreaking for the airport is expected to begin this year with company President Director Erwanto Sad Adiatmoko saying that the Transportation Ministry is currently in the process of preparing the official site for the airport.
According to Erwanto, the total construction cost is estimated at Rp 50 trillion (US$ 3 billion), which includes not only the airport itself but also supporting infrastructure, urban development in the direct vicinity and development of the wider area.
He noted that the entire project will be financed through Chinese investment, with no funding from the state budget.
In November last year, BIBU Panji Sakti signed a Heads of Agreement (HoA) with Chinese company ChangYe Construction Group to accelerate the development of the airport. At the time, Erwanto claimed that the project had secured US$3 billion in investment and was set for completion by 2027.
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