Ngurah Rai International Airport - History

History

The Pelabuhan Udara Tuban, or Tuban airfield, was established in 1931 at the narrowest point on the southern coast of Bali. The airport was originally built as a simple 700-meter-long airstrip by the Dutch Colonial administration’s Voor Verkeer en Waterstaats public works office. When first established the site only had a few huts and a short grass runway. The northern end lay in the Tuban village graveyard and in the south it occupied previously vacant land. The location in this area of the island has subsequently facilitated arrivals and departures over the ocean with minimal noise and overflights intruding upon populated areas. The current airport has an east-west aligned runway and associated taxiway, with over 1000 metres of that runway's length projecting westward into the sea.

In 1942 the airstrip was in use to stage fighter and bomber operations and received bombing damage from Japanese forces. It was repaired using PSP pierced steel planking. The Japanese armed forces occupied Bali during the Second World War seizing the airport on 19 February 1942. A poorly motivated garrison of 600 Dutch led Balinese militia deserted almost immediately as the Japanese invaded the island. Their Dutch commander was to learn that through a misunderstanding of his orders, Tuban airfield had not been destroyed by explosives as he had ordered. Apparently his order not to delay the demolition was misread by the demolition engineers at the airstrip who thought instead that he wanted the operation delayed. This confusion allowed the Japanese to take the airfield completely intact. During the occupation period the Japanese made improvements to the runway at the airport. In the five years from 1942 to 1947 the length of the runway was extended to 1200 meters from the original 700 metres. Many Balinese identified the Japanese invaders as being potential liberators from the Dutch colonial authorities who were unpopular on the island. There was never a significant Japanese fighter squadron stationed in Denpasar although it was within the field of tactical air operations conducted from both Surabaya and Allied airbases in northern Australia. More so the taking of Tuban airfield and the island of Bali deprived the allied forces of a fighter staging field on route from Australia to defend Java. At the time the airport was still called Tuban Airfield, named after the local fishing village.

In 1949 a Terminal building and other aviation facilities were constructed and a simple wooden flight control tower was erected. Aviation communication was by morse code tranceiver. In 1959 president Sukarno sought to further develop the airstrip. The new facilities were built as part of a $13 million (Rp 35 billion in 1959) renovation project.

To allow jet aircraft such as the Douglas DC8 and the Boeing 707 to operate from Bali, it was necessary to extend the runway westward into the sea as any potential eastern extension of the runway was by now blocked by the expansion of the local fishing village. The International Airport Tuban was developed with the decision by the Indonesia government to further develop and rebuild the terminal building and extend the existing airport runway westward by 1200 meters to a length of 2700 meters with two 100 metre overruns. The project, which lasted from 1963 to 1969 was named Project Tuban Airport and was for preparation of Tuban Airport for international operations. Land reclamation to project the runway and the two overruns by 1500 metres was achieved by taking material from the limestone rocks at Ungasan and sand from the river Antosari–Tabanan. With the completion of the temporary terminal and runway project at the Tuban Airport, the government inaugurated international air service on August 10, 1966.

To meet the ever increasing number of passengers the terminal buildings were extended with construction of an International Terminal building undertaken from 1965 to 1969. This added international facilities to the existing domestic passenger terminal. The new Ngurah Rai International Airport was inaugurated the on 1 August 1968 by the then Indonesian President Suharto as Pelabuhan Udara Internasional Ngurah Rai, or Ngurah Rai International Airport. The name came from I Gusti Ngurah Rai who was a significant national republican figure during the struggle for independence in Indonesia.

The current airport is named after I Gusti Ngurah Rai, an Indonesian National Hero an Indonesian republican who died on 20 November 1946 in a puputan (fight to the death) against the Dutch at Marga in Tabanan where the Dutch defeated them with the aid of aircraft, killing Rai and 95 others during the Indonesian Revolution in 1946.

The earlier extension of the runway subsequently caused disruption of natural sand flow along the coast. By 1975 the anticipated rise in passenger volumes was already overburdening the older terminal and works were commenced on a new international passenger terminal, with completion in 1978. The old International Terminal was then converted into the now Domestic Terminal and the old Domestic Terminal was converted to use as the Cargo and Catering facilities building.

On 1 October 1980 based on the Government Decree No.26 of the year 1980, the management of Ngurah Rai International Airport was passed over from the Directorate of Air Transportation to Perum Angkasa Pura. Since then the aviation facilities including the apron, the terminal and other buildings buildings have been further developed by Perum Angkasa Pura. In 1986 by national government decree No. 25 Perum Angkasa Pura changed name to become Perum Angkasa Pura I. The Indonesian term Pelabuhan Udara was changed into Bandara Udara based on the Transportations Ministerial Decision No.213/HK.207/Phb-85 on 1 September 1985. Commencing 1 October 1989 until 31 August 1992 further major airport improvement works were undertaken including a landing strip extension to 3,000 meters, taxiway relocations, apron expansion, passenger and cargo building expansions and the further development of air navigational and aircraft fueling facilities. With the issuing of the Governmental Decree No.5 year 1992 then Perum Angkasa Pura I was converted into a PT. (Persero) Angkasa Pura 1. Company activities include aviation facilities provisions and airport services. Project Phase II was carried out 10 February 1998 with planned completion June 2000.