Mali Airport (Indonesia)

Construction and early history

Mali Airport was built by the Indonesian government between 1974 and 1975 as part of a program initiated by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation under the Ministry of Transportation to construct and develop rural airstrips across Indonesia. The program aimed to improve access to isolated and remote regions where air transportation was often the only viable means of transport. Construction of the airfield was initially carried out through a combination of local community self-help efforts (gotong royong) and government support. Mali Airport was at that time one of 23 airstrips constructed by the Indonesian government in East Nusa Tenggara at the time. Their construction made air travel increasingly accessible to residents of the province, facilitating travel between its various regencies.

When the airport began operations, it was designated as a rural airstrip capable of accommodating only small aircraft, such as Cessna aircraft and the de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter. Merpati Nusantara Airlines was among the first airlines to serve the airport, providing a connection between Alor and Kupang, the provincial capital of East Nusa Tenggara. The airline initially used the Twin Otter, later the Fokker 27 and finally the Xian MA-60 prior to its eventual closure in early 2014.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the airport underwent further upgrades, enabling it to accommodate larger aircraft such as the CASA C-212 Aviocar. Merpati continued to operate flights to Kupang, its hub in East Nusa Tenggara, providing Alor with direct connections to other destinations in the region, including Larantuka, Maumere, and Lewoleba, as well as Denpasar in Bali. Despite these upgrades, the runway at the time still consisted of a combination of grass and asphalt surfaces.

In 2004, the runway at Mali Airport was extended from 1,050 meters to 1,520 meters, and its width was increased from 23 meters to 30 meters, enabling aircraft such as the Fokker 27 and ATR 42 to land at the airport. The runway was later extended again to 1,600 m, enabling the airport to accommodate ATR 72 aircraft. Other airlines soon began serving Alor, complementing Merpati's existing service to Kupang, which operated four weekly flights. TransNusa subsequently inaugurated its own Kalabahi–Kupang service, initially operated with the Fokker 50 and later with the ATR 72. The service persisted until it was terminated due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Trigana Air also operated the Kupang–Kalabahi route between 2005 and 2006, initially in a joint venture with TransNusa, before the route was discontinued sometime prior to 2013.

Contemporary history

In the early 2010s, additional airlines began operating scheduled services to Alor in response to growing demand for travel to the island. In January 2015, Wings Air began operating the Kupang–Kalabahi route using ATR 72-500 and ATR 72-600 aircraft. Susi Air also briefly operated a pioneer route between Alor and Atambua, launched in April 2014 with three weekly flights. However, the service was discontinued in 2015 due to low passenger demand. Garuda Indonesia was also reportedly interested at the time in launching a route between Alor and Kupang.

In 2019, NAM Air, a subsidiary of Sriwijaya Air, launched a direct route between Kalabahi and Denpasar, Bali, using the ATR 72-600, providing passengers with a connection between the two cities without the need to transit in Kupang. However, the service was short-lived. As of 2026, Wings Air is currently the sole airline serving the airport, operating the only scheduled route between Kalabahi and Kupang.

To attract more tourists, the Alor Regency Government has proposed upgrading the airport to international status, which would enable direct flights to Dili in Timor-Leste, as well as restoring the former route to Denpasar and potentially establishing a new service to Labuan Bajo, the gateway to the Komodo Islands. From both geopolitical and geoeconomic perspectives, the airport's location in Alor is strategically important due to the island's proximity to Indonesia's international border with Timor-Leste and its role in supporting national defense and security.