Bali plans major airport upgrade

Bali is to get a much better airport. 

The Indonesian Ministry of Transportation has announced its intention to upgrade and revitalise Ngurah Rai International Airport to handle 32 million domestic and international passengers by 2031, newsletter Bali Update reports.

​The airport’s current rated annual passenger handling capacity is 25 million.

Both the Ministry of Transportation and the state-owned airport management company PT Angkasa Pura Indonesia (InJourney Airport) have been instructed to accelerate planning and implementation, as part of efforts to expand and enhance the airport’s facilities to accommodate a projected influx of 32 million in the early 2030s.

​With a rapid post-Covid pandemic recovery, the island’s airport is expected to handle 24.9 million tourists in 2026. 

​A surge in passenger traffic is driven by new international airlines opening regular direct routes to Bali, including Etihad, Saudia Airlines, Sichuan Airlines, and T'Way Air.

​As a result, increasingly congested flight slots have made it urgent to strengthen air connectivity by expanding airport capacity to support equitable Island development.

​”We see that the number of passengers at I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport has now reached around 24.9 million per year, even exceeding the pre-Covid-19 pandemic level,” said Minister of Transportation Dudy Purwagandhi.

”Through airport capacity expansion, we hope this number can increase to around 32 million passengers, thereby supporting equitable development.”

​Because land is limited in South Bali, the government and airport operators have agreed to maximize existing infrastructure and facilities rather than build a massive new terminal.