Ngurah Rai Airport Safety in Doubt: Bali

Over the decades I have watched the Airport of Ngurah Rai in Bali grow from a virtual tin shed in a paddock to an internationally acclaimed airport servicing numerous countries around the world. But now, its safety is in question. Hard to believe considering the strict protocol that exists there.

The Bali Discovery newsletter explains further:

Despite the continuing warning in place by America’s Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) classifying Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport as falling short on international safety standards, the Indonesian Director General of Civil Aviation at the Department of Transportation, Budhi Muliawan Suyitno told the Indonesian language Bisnis Indonesia that Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport is now in compliance with TSA safety standards.

In fact, according to Suyitno, Bali’s airport ranks Number #1 for safety and security among Indonesia’s entire list of 25 international air gateways.

According to Suyitno, only Bali’s Airport received acknowledgement from the TSA, beating out Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta Airport in terms of safety standards.

A team of TSA Auditors were in Bali during the last week of March 2007 fueling hope that the negative notice about safety at Bali’s airport displayed at major airports across the United States may soon be removed.

I did a bit of research and was amazed to find then number of airlines that fly in and out of both Ngurah Rai International and Domestic airports. Here’s the list from Wikipedia:

Adam Air (Jakarta)

AirAsia (Kuala Lumpur)

Indonesia AirAsia (Jakarta)

Batavia Air (Jakarta, Pontianak, Surabaya, Yogyakarta)

Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong)

China Airlines (Taipei-Taiwan Taoyuan)

Citilink (Ampenan, Jakarta, Surabaya)

Continental Airlines

Continental Micronesia (Guam)

EVA Air (Taipei-Taiwan Taoyuan)

Garuda Indonesia (Darwin, Jakarta, Jayapura, Melbourne,
Osaka-Kansai, Perth, Seoul-Incheon, Singapore, Surabaya, Sydney, Tembagapura, Tokyo-Narita, Ujung Pandang, Yogyakarta)

Japan Airlines (Osaka-Kansai, Tokyo-Narita)

Korean Air (Seoul-Incheon)

Lion Air (Jakarta, Mataram, Ujung Pandang)

Malaysia Airlines (Kuala Lumpur)

Mandala Airlines (Surabaya)

Merpati Nusantara (Bandung, Bima, Dili, Jakarta, Kupang,
Mataram, Maumere, Surabaya, Waingapu)

Pelita Air (Ende, Kupang, Maumere, Labuan Bajo, Waingapu)

Qantas (Darwin, Perth, Singapore)

Jetstar Airways (Melbourne, Sydney)

Qatar Airways (Doha, Kuala Lumpur)

Royal Brunei (Bandar Seri Begawan)

Singapore Airlines (Singapore)

Sriwijaya Air (Jakarta)

Thai Airways International (Bangkok)

Transaero (Moscow-Domodedovo, Singapore)

Valuair (Singapore)

Wings Air (Mataram, Surabaya, Yogyakarta)