Supadio International Airport

Supadio Airport new air traffic control tower

Airport terminal interior

The airport was originally built in the 1940s and was at first named Sei Durian Airport.

After obtaining an agreement with the Pontianak Sultanate, land was given to the Dutch colonial government to build an 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 with 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. 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 and Merpati Nusantara Airlines. 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. Between early to mid 2010s, there were also short-lived flights to Singapore (operated by Batavia Air) and Johor Bahru (by Xpress Air). Flights to Kuala Lumpur also commenced in late-March 2015, operated by AirAsia, but these flights were terminated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2020, the runway was extended to 2,600 meters. Previously, the 2010–2011 runway has been widened from 30 meters to 45 meters.[2] The new terminal adopts eco-airport and green building concepts and is able to serve three 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 (140,000 sq ft) and could accommodate over 1.5 million people over a year. Phase 1 was completed in June 2015.

Phase 2 involved demolishing of the 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 (340,000 sq ft) and can accommodate 3 million passengers annually.[3]

A new parallel sideways that will connect the 3 new jetbridges is also being built. It will increase the capacity of the current terminal building. The new sideways will be completed by 2023.

Supadio International Airport is also used by 1st Fighter Squadron (Hawk 109/209) & Aviation Squadron 51 (Skadron Udara 51), which operates the CAIG Wing Loong.[16]

• On 19 January 1973, Douglas C-47B PK-EHC of Trans Nusantara Airways crashed on landing and was destroyed in the subsequent fire. All four people on board escaped.[17]
• On 22 November 2004, Sri Hardono, the captain of Garuda Indonesia flight 501, a Boeing 737-500 from Pontianak to Jakarta, was suddenly ill shortly after take-off. Hardono immediately asked permission to the air traffic control to return to the airport. Hardono died shortly after the emergency landing while still in the cockpit. Heart attack was the cause of illness and death. Due to the incident, the airport was temporarily closed for 40 minutes. There were no other injuries or fatalities in this incident.[18]
• On 2 November 2010, Lion Air flight 712, operated by Boeing 737-400 PK-LIQ, overran the runway on landing, coming to rest on its belly. All 174 passengers and crew evacuated by the evacuation slides, with few injuries reported.[19]
• On 1 June 2012, a Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-400 skidded off the runway in heavy rain. No injuries were reported, but the plane sustained damage beyond repair.[20]
• On 9 January 2021, Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 enroute from Soekarno–Hatta International Airport to Supadio International Airport with 62 people total on board (50 passengers, 12 crew members) disappeared from radar four minutes after takeoff. It was later confirmed by officials that Flight 182 crashed in the waters off the Thousand Islands.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Supadio Airport.

• Accident history for PNK at Aviation Safety Network