Kemayoran Airport

Kemayoran Airport in 1967

Long before the airport was established, the area of Kemayoran was a land owned by the Commander VOC, Isaac de l'Ostal de Saint-Martin (1629– 1696). Around the end of the 17th century, Issac owned land in Java which included the Kemayoran area, Ancol, Krukut, and Cinere. The name "Mayoran" first appeared in 1816 in the Java Government Gazette ad as "land located near Weltevreden, Batavia". After that, the area was known as "Kemayoran".[6] Until the beginning of the 20th century, the Kemayoran area was still swamp, areal rice fields, as well as residential areas. Then in 1934, the Dutch East Indies Government established an airport in the area and was inaugurated on 8 July 1940. Making Kemayoran as the first International Airport in Indonesia. This airport management by the government Dutch East Indies was entrusted to Koninklijke Nederlandsch-Indische Luchtvaart Maatschappij until the occupation of Japan.

Two days before the inauguration (6 July 1940), the first aircraft to land was the Douglas DC-3 belonging to the KNILM which was flown from Tjililitan Field. Similar aircraft, namely DC-3 registered with PK-AJW are also the first to depart from Kemayoran to Australia, a day later.

On the day of the inauguration, the KNILM held several of its aircraft, including:

• Douglas DC-2 Uiver
• Douglas DC-3 Dakota
• Fokker F.VIIb 3m
• Grumman G-21 Goose
• de Havilland DH-89 Dragon Rapide
• Lockheed L-14 Super Electra.

Only about two months later the KNILM brought in new aircraft, such as:

• Douglas DC-5
• Sikorsky S-43 Baby Clipper.

The first Aerospace Exhibition was also held at Kemayoran, which coincided with the birthday of Queen Wilhelmina on 31 August 1940. In addition to the aircraft belonging to the KNILM, a number of private planes which took shelter in Aeroclub in Batavia participated in enlivening them. These planes include:

• Bücker Bü 131 Jungmann
• de Havilland DH-82 Tigermoth
• Piper J-3 Cub
• Walraven 2 who had flown Batavia – Amsterdam on 27 September 1935.

At that time, war broke out in the Asia Pacific which began to rage. Kemayoran is used for flight military aircraft, although commercial flight activities continue. Military aircraft that had stopped by include:

• Martin B-10
• Martin B-12
• Koolhoven F.K.51
• Brewster F2A Buffalo
• Lockheed L-18 Lodestar
• Curtiss P-36 Hawk
• Fokker C.X
• Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress.

Kemayoran Airport in 1981

When the war became increasingly fierce, Kemayoran did not escape the attacks of attack aircraft belonging to the Air Force Japanese Empire. In February 1942, two DC-5s, two Brewster and an F.VII were hit by a Japanese attack, forcing the KNILM to evacuate its aircraft to Australia and finally Kemayoran was successfully occupied by the Imperial Air Force Japan.

In March 1942, the airport was taken over by the Japanese Empire. Japanese-made planes that have stopped at Kemayoran include:

• Mitsubishi A6M Zero
• Showa/Nakajima L2D
• Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa
• Tachikawa Ki-9
• Tachikawa Ki-36

After the events of Hiroshima and Nagasaki which forced Japan to surrender to the Allies in August 1945, the Airport was immediately taken over by the Allies and Netherlands Indies Civil Administration because at that time the government Indonesia was located in Yogyakarta Then Kemayoran began to be occupied by Allied aircraft such as:

• Supermarine Spitfire
• North American B-25 Mitchell
• North American P-51 Mustang.

In addition, passenger planes also arrived, including:

• Douglas DC-4
• C-54 Skymaster
• Douglas DC-6
• Boeing 377 Stratocruiser
• Lockheed Constellation

On 1 August 1947, Kemayoran International Airport witnessed the birth of the KLM Interinsulair Bedrijf airline which was later nationalized to become the first national airline in Indonesia, namely Garuda Indonesian Airways

Garuda Indonesia McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 at Kemayoran Internationals Airport 1977. DC-10 was the largest type of aircraft to land at Kemayoran's Airport and was occasionally used during the Hajj Flight season which flew the Hajj group that disembark from Kemayoran Airport.

In the 1950s after the independence war, the management of civil aviation and airports was immediately carried out by the Indonesian government. It was only in 1958 that it was managed by Civil Aviation Office, which is now known as Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

On 20 February 1964 the management of Kemayoran was handed over to Perusahaan Negara Angkasa Pura Kemajoran, a state-owned enterprise which eventually becomes Angkasa Pura I. For this, the government invested Rp. 15 million in Rupiah at that time. Furthermore, the government increased capital by diverting terminal buildings, other supporting buildings, runways, taxiways, aprons, hangars and operational equipment. Until the end of operations in 1985 management was carried out by Angkasa Pura I.

Kemayoran International Airport experienced a period of historic phases of Indonesia from the reign of the Dutch East Indies, Japanese occupation to Indonesian independence (Old Order, and New Order), especially in the aviation world. From civilian planes to military aircraft, from the start of their development to piston engines, propellers to turbojets landed here. For example, a Fokker type aircraft was recorded from the Fokker F-VIIb-3 with a piston engine, Fokker Friendship with a turbo engine until the Fokker F-28 jet engine landed here. Then the Douglas DC-3 aircraft recorded landed and flew from the beginning and end of the airport's operation. And the presence of early generation wide-body aircraft such as the Airbus A-300 and McDonnell Douglas DC-10.

In addition, several dark events also colored the airport's operations. Among other things, the Beechcraft plane which crashed while landing, then Convair 340 which landed without wheels, a DC-3 Dakota plane that caught fire and a Douglas DC-9 aircraft that suffered a broken body when landing on the runway. Then the Fokker F-27 aircraft which took off swooped and turned down until it burned to the ground in a training flight. Also recorded were planes that never returned after taking off from Kemayoran.

Kemayoran became busy in the 1970s, so the government temporarily moved international flights to Halim Perdanakusuma Airport on 10 January 1974. But all domestic flights still survive at Kemayoran. Kemayoran's busy life at that time was only matched by Sultan Aji Muhammad Sulaiman Airport in Balikpapan, which at that time was busy in mining, oil and timber activities.