North Bali Airport: The Minister Is Now Looking at the Roads, Not Just the Runway
A new airport is only as useful as the road that gets you to it, and that’s the message from the latest update on the North Bali airport. Indonesia’s Minister of Public Works has visited the planned site and says the access roads need to be sorted before the terminal is finished.
The short version: Minister Dody Hanggodo inspected the proposed North Bali International Airport site on Sunday, September 27, 2026, and said the government is weighing whether to widen existing national roads or build a toll road to serve it. No decision, timeline or funding amount has been announced.
What the Minister Did
According to Bali Discovery, citing Kompas, Dody Hanggodo visited the planned airport site to check its readiness and the road network that would serve it. His stated aim is to avoid a situation where an airport is built in an area without adequate road links to the rest of Bali. In his words: “We must avoid a situation where the airport is completed, yet the supporting access roads are not yet ready.”
The Road Options
The ministry is considering two broad approaches: upgrading and widening existing national roads, or constructing toll road sections. It hasn’t chosen between them. “We are evaluating whether to use widened national roads or a toll road,” the minister said, with the decision depending on requirements and terrain. Spatial planning and technical studies for the access roads are being coordinated with the airport planning, which is proceeding in parallel.
Why the Airport Exists at All
The airport is intended to handle commercial flights and to support the Indonesian International Financial Center (IIFC). It’s also framed as a way to spread tourists and economic activity beyond southern Bali. The minister’s comments that the key lies in the IIFC area suggest the financial-centre plan is a big part of the thinking, not only tourism.
A Quick Recap of How We Got Here
The proposed airport has been discussed for years, but it took a step forward in July 2026 when President Prabowo Subianto met Baringin Panggabean, President Commissioner of PT Pembangunan Bali Mandiri, and voiced support for its swift realization. The site is in the Kubutambahan area of Buleleng. It is included in the 2025 to 2029 National Medium-Term Development Plan, and its initial design and feasibility study have been approved by the Directorate General of Air Transportation. The design contemplates wide-body aircraft such as the Boeing 777 and Airbus A380, and the stated goals are to take pressure off Ngurah Rai, spread economic activity away from the crowded south, and create jobs in northern, western and eastern Bali. Ngurah Rai’s own expansion, meanwhile, targets 32 million passengers by 2031.
Where It Stands, Honestly
This is progress on planning, not construction. The report gives no construction start date, completion date or funding deadline, and no land acquisition details. On money, the government is described as open to partnerships, but investment financing options are still being finalized, with no amounts given.
That’s a little different from where we left the story in August, when we reported that the airport at Kubutambahan in Buleleng had presidential backing and was being planned as a fully private project. The new report doesn’t contradict that, but it doesn’t repeat it either, so we can’t say how the funding picture has changed.
Quick Answers About the North Bali Airport
Where would it be? The planned site is in Buleleng on Bali’s north coast. Our earlier report placed it at Kubutambahan.
When will it open? No date has been announced.
Who is paying for the roads? That hasn’t been decided. The ministry is evaluating options and says financing is still being finalized.
Will it affect a holiday in 2026 or 2027? Nothing in the reports suggests so.
Why does road access matter so much? The minister’s point is that a finished airport without ready access roads would leave passengers stranded on the way in, so the roads and the airport need to be planned together.
What is the IIFC? The Indonesian International Financial Center. The report says the airport is meant to support it, alongside commercial flights and spreading tourism beyond southern Bali.
The Chimera Villas Take
It’s a sensible instinct to think about roads before runways, particularly on an island where the south already struggles with traffic. We first covered the project in our look at its presidential backing and private funding, and the context for the south’s side of the story is in our piece on Ngurah Rai’s expansion. For now, a Seminyak holiday is unaffected, and the north remains a rewarding long day trip or overnight stay.
