The following piece of news sparked a lengthy discussion between Indonesian netizens, comparing and arguing over Indonesia’s airports, on popular Indonesian discussion forum Kaskus awhile ago. Unfortunately, the original discussion thread subsequently could no longer be found.
From Kompas:
Dahlan: Ngurah Rai Airport is the Best in Indonesia
The Minister for State-Owned Enterprises (SOE), Dahlan Iskan, has judged Ngurah Rai International Airport as the best airport in Indonesia. This was judged by the challenges in the airport’s construction. “In terms of design, construction and security, Ngurah Rai Airport is Indonesia’s top airport”, said Dahlan when checking up on the construction of Ngurah Rai Airport in Badung, Bali. According to Dahlan, the level of difficulty in Ngurah Rai’s construction was higher than in the construction of Juanda Airport in Surabaya. In addition, this airport was constructed in the place of the old airport. This is different from Juanda airport which was built on new land.
Ngurah Rai International Airport Development, Bali, is yet to be completed. Ngurah Rai Airport is the gateway to Bali, an international tourist area. The airport’s atmosphere has become the center of complaints made by domestic and foreign tourists alike.
An interior photo of the old Ngurah-Rai International Airport.
One of the difficulties in constructing this Bali airport was the construction of the airport’s three story roof. The roof will be supported by a steel chain stretching 60 meters. “The trouble is, the roof is put together in Surabaya, dismantled, then shipped to Bali where it is reassembled again bit by bit,” he said. As of now, the construction of the international airport’s roof section has reached 70% completion. However, the construction of the International airport has only reached 55% overall. According to the plan, the international airport will be able to accommodate 25 million passengers by 2025.
At the moment, the number of passengers at the airport is around 13.5 million. Dahlan also commented, “We are optimistic that the airport will be completed by October 2013 with upcoming support from APEC.”
The New Development of Ngurah Rai International Airport:
Comments from Kompas and Kaskus:
made ardika:
Oh yeah! Dahlan is working hard to build our nation. #dahlan2014
ida bagus putu diana sukertia:
We support your good work, Mr. Dahlan! Adequate infrastructure will sustain good airport service, a service which will make arriving in Bali pleasant.
arif purnomo:
Hopefully I’ll be back to Bali later when the new airport has finished… I wonder why there are people who hated this new development…
koci senderis:
Cool, this airport will be competing with Kuala Namu Airport [Medan’s Airport] when it is already in operation.
Tanty:
Sir… the mentality of the immigration officers in Bali have to be trained too. How come an international airport has an ‘express’ line? Once in a while, we need to send a ‘foreigner‘ spy with a ‘wire’ to record their actions.
Don Joe:
What’s the big deal? Has Mr. Dahlan’s already started to forget the development of other airports?
Texas Ranger:
Great to see Bali is moving forward, great stuff!
jamie999:
In my opinion, the Soekarno Hatta Airport is even less modern compared to the Bus Terminal Bungurasih in Surabaya…
aCMaw:
If the airport building is nice but the management team sucks then it won’t matter…
haripin09:
Wow, the Soekarno Hatto airport is going to lose again.. Congrats Bali for having the no. 1 [Airport]!
SaidAz:
Soekarno Hatta isn’t suitable to be an international airport anymore. It is plagued with cockroaches, leaks and blackout problems…
gegep:
I had a bad experience in Soekarno Hatta airport once. While I was waiting for my international flight, the airport’s air conditioning system failed and the building was hot like hell! I had to go back and forth to the washroom to wash my face. Even the washroom was dirty and smelly. What kind of international airport is that?
sherlock_mas:
The most important thing is to keep up with the airport’s maintenance. It will be useless if proper maintenance isn’t done no matter how sophisticated the building is.
What are the best and worst international airports you’ve experienced?
