What happened
On 14 July 2026 President Prabowo met Baringin Panggabean, a commissioner of PT Pembangunan Bali Mandiri. The president paid special attention to airport readiness and asked for the project to move faster. He repeated the instruction at a cabinet plenary session on 20 July.
Panggabean said the airport has been designed to international standards. The design, sized for the Boeing 777 and Airbus A380, has been approved by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
Status and funding
The airport is listed as a national priority project in the RPJMN (the national medium-term development plan) for 2025-2029. That plan was set by Presidential Regulation No. 12 of 2025.
It is meant to be built under a KPBU (public-private partnership) with private money and no state budget funds. The government aims to complete it in roughly three years.
What else is planned
A separate Letkol Wisnu airfield is planned for small aircraft and private jets. According to the source, its design takes account of nearby temples and dense housing.
These are instructions and an approved design. The article reports no start of construction works.
What is still unknown
All international flights to Bali currently land at Ngurah Rai in the south of the island. The northern airport would become a second gateway, but the article names no private investor, no cost and no construction start date.
Those three items are the ones to watch. Until they appear, the three-year timeline remains a government target.