Wamena Airport

Wamena Airport Bandar Udara Wamena
IATA: WMX ICAO: WAVV
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Pasaraya Group
Operator	Government
Serves	Wamena, Tolikara, Yahukimo, Yalimo
Location	Wamena, Puncak Jaya Regency, Papua Province, Indonesia.
Elevation AMSL	6,200 ft / 1,550 m
Coordinates	4°05′54″S 138°57′05.98″E / 4.09833°S 138.9516611°E / -4.09833; 138.9516611Coordinates: 4°05′54″S 138°57′05.98″E / 4.09833°S 138.9516611°E / -4.09833; 138.9516611
Map
WMX Location of airport in Papua
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 15/33[1] 7,136 2,175 Asphalt

Wamena Airport (Indonesian: Bandar Udara Wamena) (IATA: WMX, ICAO: WAVV), is an airport serving the town of Wamena, Puncak Jaya Regency, Papua Province, Indonesia. The airport also serves the neighboring Lanny Jaya Regency and Tolikara Regency. It is currently the only airport in the highland region of Papua that can accommodate narrow-body aircraft such as the Airbus A320, Boeing 737 and C-130 Hercules. The airport also serves as the entry point to the Baliem Valley, where it is known for the Baliem Valley Cultural Festival (Indonesian: Festival Budaya Lembah Baliem) which is held annually.

Due to being located at a high altitude and surrounded by high mountains, Wamena Airport is dubbed as one of the most dangerous airports in Indonesia. Unpredictable weather in the highland of Papua has resulted some aircraft accidents, which sometimes resulted in fatalities. Moreover, the presence of the Free Papua Movement guerrilla in the mountains and jungles nearby has posed a serious risk to the safety of passengers in the airport.

Improvement

Recently, a new terminal was inaugurated by President Joko Widodo. The new terminal, which resembles the traditional Papuan home honai, was inaugurated on 30 December 2015.^[2] The new terminal which has an area of 4.000 m2 replaced the old run-down terminal which only has an area of 965 m2.^[3] Moreover, the runway is also being extended from 2,175 m to 2,400 m. Further improvement involves the building of a parallel taxiway in the airport.^[4]

Facilities of the new terminal includes 5 counter check-in, new boarding lounge with AC, larger toilet and more seats in the boarding lounge. Air-side facilities include an apron which has two aircraft stands covering an area of 180 m x 45 m and 356 m x 45 m each. The airport runway has a length of 2,175 m, which would be extended to 2,400 m and eventually to 2,600 m.^[5]

Airlines and destinations

Accidents and incidents

Wamena airport, the only airport in the region that can accommodate the Indonesian Military (TNI)s Hercules airplanes, was razed by fire on September 26, 2011; all buildings including the departure and arrival terminals were engulfed by fire.^[6]

• On April 21, 2002 an Antonov An-72 (ES-NOP) of Estonian airline Enimex was damaged in a hard landing at Wamena Airport; a minor fire broke out. Due to the dead battery of the fire truck some firefighters ran to the accident scene with hand-held fire extinguishers. After some 20 minutes the truck's battery was charged, but the aircraft had to be written-off. There were no fatalities.^[7]
• On December 18, 2016, an Indonesian Air Force C-130H Hercules flew into hills 1700 m southeast of the runway threshold while attempting to land in poor visibility, killing all 13 on board.^[8][9]
• On July 18, 2017 a Boeing 737-300F (Freighter) (PK-YGG) of Indonesian airline Tri-MG Intra Asia Airlines sustained substantial damage after a hard landing and subsequent runway excursion. The aircraft came to a stop on rough terrain. No injuries were reported. ^[10]

References

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