Supadio International Airport


Supadio International Airport , formerly known as Sei Durian Airport or Sungai Durian Airport, is an international airport located 17 km from Pontianak, West Kalimantan, Indonesia. The airport is managed by PT. Angkasa Pura II, and takes up 528 ha. The airport serves as the main point of entry to West Kalimantan. The airport serves domestic flights to and from several cities and towns in Indonesia and some limited flights to Kuching and Kuala Lumpur in the neighboring Malaysia. The name of the airport is derived from Lieutenant Colonel Supadio, an Indonesian Air Force officer who served Pangkowilud II Banjarmasin, which oversees the Sungai Durian Airbase. Lieutenant Colonel Supadio died in an airplane crash with Colonel Nurtanio in Bandung in 1966. The airport area and runway is also shared with the Supadio Airbase a Type B airbase of the TNI-AU. It served as the homebase of the Skuadron Udara 1 of the Indonesian Air Force, which consists of a fleet of 18 Hawk 109/209.
The airport previously suffered from overcapacity. A major renovation, which involves the building of a larger and more spacious terminal between 2014 and 2017 dramatically increased the airport's capacity. After the renovation, the airport now has four jet bridges and is able to accommodate 3.8 million passengers annually. The renovation included the widening and extension of the runway to 2,600-meters in 2020 and will be functioned in 2020, building a new and higher Air traffic control tower and widening the airport's apron to accommodate more and larger aircraft.

History

The airport was originally built in the 1940s and was previously named as Sei Durian Airport.
After obtaining an agreement with the Pontianak Sultanate, the Pontianak Sultanate decided to give up some land to be used the Dutch colonial government in building a airfield. The Dutch government began to carry out research around the Sei Durian area to decide where to build the airstrip. Finally, the Dutch decided to build the airstrips in Sei Durian due to the consideration of strategic factors of defense. At that time, the Dutch government was involved in World War II against the Empire of Japan.
Unfortunately, before the construction of the airstrip started, the Dutch colonial administration capitulated to the Japanese Government. During the Japanese occupation, the Japanese military government decided to proceed building the airstrip, considering its strategic importance. The Japanese stationed several of its military airplanes in Sei Durian over the course of the war. After the Japanese surrendered in 1945, the airstrip was briefly retaken by the Dutch colonial government, before finally taken over by the new Indonesian government. Over the course of the year, the Indonesian government developed the airport, resulting in its present state.
At the height of the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation, several aircraft of the Indonesian Air Force were stationed on Sei Durian Airport, owing to its proximity with Malaysia in subsequent developments, the history of the Sungai Durian Airbase has undergone many series of change processes, ranging from changes in status or air force base type or renaming changes. After hostility ceased, the airbase was upgraded from a Type C Airbase to a Type B Airbase. Currently, Supadio Airport houses the Skuadron Udara 1 of the Indonesian Air Force, composing of a fleet of Hawk 109/209.
In the 1980s, the airport was renamed Supadio Airport. In the 1970s, the first international flight to Kuching in neighbouring Sarawak started, operated by Merpati Nusantara Airlines. In the 1980s, flights to Singapore started, operated by Garuda Indonesia. In late-October 1989, Malaysia Airlines also started flight to Pontianak from Kuching. All of these international flights discontinued in 1998 due to the Asian Financial Crisis but the routes to Kuching however has been resumed in mid-1999, operated by 3 different airlines consecutively namely Batavia Air, Kalstar and Xpress Air which suspended services shortly after Wings Air operated the route. Together with Airasia, both airlines operate 14 weekly flights between Pontianak and Kuching. Between early to mid 2010s, there were also short-lived flights to Singapore and Johor Bahru. Flight to Kuala Lumpur also commenced in late-March 2015, operated by AirAsia.

Expansion

A new terminal building with wide and extended runway is built in the airport. The runway is extended to 2,500 meters. Before, in 2010–2011 runway has been widened from 30 meters to 45 meters. The new terminal adopts eco-airport and green building concepts and able to serve 3 million passengers annually.
The new terminal was built in two phases. Phase I involves building a temporary terminal with an area of 13.000 m2 and could accommodate over 1.5 million people over a year. Phase 1 was completed in June, 2015.
Phase 2 involved demolishing of existing terminal building and building a new terminal building as an extension of the building in phase I. In total, the new Supadio Airport terminal has an area of 32.000 m2 and can accommodate 3 million passengers annually.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Statistics and traffic

Traffic

Statistics

RankDestinationsFrequency Airline
1 Kuching, Malaysia14AirAsia, Wings Air
2 Kuala Lumpur–International, Malaysia7AirAsia, Indonesia AirAsia

Military use

Supadio International Airport is also used by Aviation Squadron 51, which operates the CAIG Wing Loong.

Accidents and incidents