Lombok airport..

I saw this article in the jakarta post
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/04/27/lombok-leases-selaparang-airport.html

what is this government thinking of. it's obvious to everyone the new airport will not be ready in July.
More corruption from the government. The owner of the mining company happens to be the ex vice president of Indonesia.

obviously what will happen is the government will have to lease back from him the airport at a much higher rate.

again another example of the government just not thinking about the implications of their actions

We heard a few weeks ago that Selaparang would be leased from July but to the army... to be honest I didn't take much notice because as you say it seems obvious the new airport is not going to be ready by then. A friend was in there a few weeks ago and said the car park area was under about half a foot of water, the runway is still really bumpy they drove and bounced all along it and that the laminate on the walls was all peeling off.

It is going to be interesting to see what happens in the next 2 months now.

perhaps we can all chip in and build our own ferry to get us to and from Bali. by the time it's built there airport might just be ready.....

What a joke. It would be funny if it wasn't so idiotic and downright bad for Lombok. Even IF the international airport did open in July, and we ALL know that is not going to happen, the bypass hasn't even started to be built. What a put-off for tourists wanting to access the main tourist areas of Lombok - i.e. Senggigi and the Gili. It spells the death of domestic air-travel to Lombok for the next few years until a properly functioning alternative is available. More proliferation of fast boats direct from Bali. Few people will opt to travel to the Gilis by anything other than boat from Bali.

I'm glad I don't have a business in Senggigi or significant investment in that region. Tourist numbers will definitely drop as they just made it a whole lot harder to get there.

That's the way we do business here.And be honest,it,s a clever move to handle so.A easy and legal way to make some fast money.Keep the good work up and tuak forever!

Freogirl has painted a pessimistic picture.

If the new airport is not ready by July 2011, will Selaparang continue to be the de facto airport for domestic and Silk Air flights, regardless of who manages it?

Josi

Josi, from what we have heard, if it is true - all flights will be diverted to the new airport.

Freo - not sure if this is the bypass that you mean but there is a new dual carriageway from the airport through to near Kediri. It cuts down journey times to Mataram/Senggigi and Lembar Harbour.

The bypass was supposed to go through to the north coast - sounds like it has started but not finished.. the whole thing is a mess. If someone else is leasing the airport, the airlines will need to negotiate new deals to fly into that airport. Also, all the emergency equipment is going to the International (even if it's not operational). It's all so.... Indonesian!!

It all sounds like a BIG mess.

Will we EVER get an International flight to Lombok in the near future? I'm thinking not