Lombok International Airport

History

During the 'Indonesia Infrastructure Summit' in early 2005 airport infrastructure improvement projects including the new Lombok International Airport were presented to an international audience:

The Indonesian government is actively promoting both Lombok and neighboring Sumbawa as Indonesia's number two tourism destination after Bali. The President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the Ministry of Cultural and Tourism and the regional Governor have made public statements supporting the development of Lombok as a tourism destination and setting a goal of 1 million visitors annually by the year 2012 for the combined destination of Lombok and Sumbawa. This has seen infrastructure improvements to the island including road upgrades and the construction of a much delayed new International airport in the islands south. The new Lombok International Airport is a cornerstone of this tourism destination development initiated by the Government of Indonesia and regional NTB stakeholders.

The construction of this airport was delayed and the opening date re-scheduled several times. Many issues were understood to be contributing to the delays including problems with site security, thefts of construction materials and equipment from the site, issues of land disputation and tensions with some of the local community over compensation and employment on the site. Other issues involved the quality of construction of the main runway and taxiways and problems with the control tower. Delays also occurred in ratifying access for surface transport corridors including right of ways for the main connecting road to the city of Mataram. The surface connections were still under construction in late 2010 and some of the rights or way for the connecting highway to Mataram were still in disputation with the current landowners at the time of opening the airport. In September 2010 the NTB Governor, TGH M Zainul Majdi expressed his concerns over the ongoing delays in achieving a 2010 opening and services launch in a letter to the Vice President of Indonesia, the Ministry of BUMN, Ministry of Transportation as to Angkasa Pura I the airport operator.

The secretary of commission III NTB Council, Suharto reported in 2010 that the delays to completion of the Lombok International Airport were due to a lack of funding to the order of Rp 76 Billion. Delays in project completion are consequently delaying commissioning testing by Angkasa Pura Company, certification from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation Republic of Indonesia as well as international certification requirements. Aside from the funding shortfalls the issues stated to be constraining completion were the completion of an airport service road, aviation signage, terminal interiors, a terminal expansion from 12,000 to 21,000 sq m, power supplies, drainage and sewage works and the completion of the construction of access roads to and from the airport. Angkasa Pura I were reported to have approved an additional budget of Rp116 billion required for the completion of Lombok international airport in 2011 on 31 December 2010.

The project worth Rp.945.8 billion ($111.2 million) is mainly funded by PT Angkasa Pura I.

Naming of airport

Bandara Internasional Lombok (BIL) had several operational names proposed. In January 2009 results of a public opinion poll conducted in Lombok indicated that Lombok International Airport (LIA) was chosen by 40.4% of respondents, Sasak International Airport (SIA) 20%, Rinjani International Airport (RIA) 46 16.7%, Mandalika the International Airport (MIA) 10.9%, Selaparang International Airport ( SIA) 8%, Pejanggik International Airport (PIA) 2.9%, and Arya Banjar Brittle International Airport (ABGIA) 1.1%.

The IATA code LOP only came into formal use in late November 2011. Prior to that the IATA code AMI, from Selaparang, was used by the airlines servicing the airport. Garuda and Batavia began to partially adopt the LOP code in their booking and ticketing systems at that time. Lion Air was still using AMI at the end of November 2011, however all flights were operating solely to and from Lombok International Airport.

Location

The airport site is at Tanak Awu, in Kabupaten Lombok Tengah (Regency of Central Lombok), Lombok, Indonesia, south west of Mataram the provincial capital of Nusa Tenggara Barat and a few kilometers south west of the small regional city of Praya. The airport deploys in 551.8 hectares with cost Rp.945.8 billion ($108 million) which PT Angkasa Pura-I shouldering Rp.795.8 billion, West Nusa Tenggara province Rp.110 billion and Central Lombok Regency Rp.40 billion. The Lombok International Airport area has the second largest area after Soekarno–Hatta International Airport.

Destinations

When the Lombok International Airport became operational all the existing flight schedules at Lombok's Selaparang Airport were moved across to the new airport.

As Selaparang Airport never accommodated wide bodied aircraft it is expected that further international and domestic services will soon supplement the existing routes providing higher passenger loads and freight volumes to those of the existing airport at Ampenan.

Public facilities and access

The airport is served by road links to the city of Mataram which is approximately 40 km to the northwest of the airport. The airport is approximately 55 km southeast of the established Senggigi tourism precinct of West Lombok. An integral component of the airport project was the building of a new link road to the city of Mataram to provide ready access to both city and the established tourism facilities on the west coast of the island. At the time of opening in late 2011 some sections of the new road remained incomplete. The developing area of Kuta and Selong Blanik lie 30 minutes to the south of the airport and provide some reasonably developed tourist facilities including hotels and restaurants.

The airport is not served by rail connections and there are none available on the island. The airport location is some distance from existing townships and external services, the nearest regional city is Praya, to the immediate north of the airport.

Tour desk, booking kiosks and other facilities are also available at the main terminal.

Car and bus parking

The airport has extensive paved parking areas available at the main terminal and smaller facilities for the cargo terminal and administrative areas. Entrance is by a single controlled access point to the nearby highway.

Public bus services

DAMRI provide a public airport shuttle service to Terminal Mandalika (city bus terminal) on the eastern outskirts of Mataram and on to the west coast at Senggigi. The public bus service uses a dedicated fleet of modern air-conditioned buses and provides a scheduled service for set fees.

Taxi services

When the airport services were moved across from the previous facilities at Selaparang the Airport Taksi Koperasi moved operations to BIL. Upon the commencement of services from BIL they ceased to provide a set distance pre-paid docket system and adopted a metered (argometer) method of charging for distance travelled. The Airport taxi service is supplemented by metered taxis provided by the two established operators Bluebird Taxi and Express Taxi.

Charter

Helicopter and fixed wing charter services are available by prior arrangement.

Construction program

The runway, taxiways and apron were in final stages of construction and facilities installation in the 3rd quarter of 2010. Terminal and other support facilities were in final stages of completion toward the end of September 2011. The final opening date of the airport was scheduled and then subsequently postponed many times. The announced date for a formal opening on 1 October was in part responding to a pressing need to commence operations before the commencement of the annual Hadj flights in late 2011.

Phase I (2006–2009)

Phase II (2013–2015)

Phase-III (2028)

Fire fighting and emergency services

The airport has no capability for the removal of disabled aircraft.

Airport facilities and services

Information on flight procedures, communication procedures and airfield beacon and navigational aids were published by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (Indonesia) in an AIRAC document published on 28 July 2011 with an effective date of 22 September 2011.

Aircraft types

B747, B767, A340, A330, B777, C130, A320, B737-900, CRJ1000, F100, F28, F50, MA60, ATR72, CN235, XL2.

Aircraft parking stands

Flight Schools

The airport is a temporary base, from 1 October-1 December 2011, for a local flight training academy "LIFT" (Lombok Institute of Flight Technology) operating 3 Liberty XL2 training aircraft 6 days per week.