AirNav and Boeing agree to examine aircraft congestion at Bali’s Ngurah Rai Airport

In brief: On 15 September 2026, AirNav Indonesia and Boeing signed a letter of intent to study how aircraft move through I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali. The proposed work could identify ways to ease ground congestion and make better use of the existing runway, but it has not yet produced an approved operational change.

For travellers who regularly use Bali’s main airport, the announcement addresses a familiar source of uncertainty: the time aircraft spend manoeuvring, waiting and being sequenced for take-off or arrival. The partners are looking at how the airport functions as a whole, including the movement between aircraft parking areas and the runway.

A full day of flights will form the starting point

The planned analysis uses Total Airspace and Airport Modeller (TAAM), an airport and airspace simulation system. AirNav says the initial model will represent a typical 24-hour flight schedule and both directions of airport operation. It will then be checked against operational data before potential improvements are tested.

The scope is wider than runway use alone. Specialists from air traffic control, airlines, airport operations and ground-handling services are expected to examine conditions on site. Options may cover taxiway movements, parking positions, aircraft sequencing and coordination between teams. Boeing is expected to model up to three scenarios, with additional flight schedules used to explore possible future traffic growth.

That matters because an airport can experience congestion even when the physical runway remains the same. How efficiently aircraft reach it, clear it and move to their next position can affect the wider flow of departures and arrivals. The study is intended to establish which changes, if any, would deliver measurable improvements under Bali’s actual operating conditions.

There is no new flight schedule or implementation date

The parties signed a letter of intent in Tangerang on 15 September, building on an earlier cooperation agreement from 2023. A letter of intent establishes a basis for a study; it is not an announcement that new taxiways have been built, an additional runway has been approved, or airlines can immediately operate more flights.

No completion date for the research or timetable for implementing its eventual recommendations was specified in the announcement. Nor was a quantified reduction in delays promised. Those details would depend on the findings and any decisions taken afterwards.

For Bali residents arranging frequent trips, family visits or connections through another airport, the immediate planning advice remains unchanged: allow realistic transfer times and use the airline’s published schedule. This agreement may lead to meaningful improvements, but passengers cannot yet rely on a faster journey through Ngurah Rai.

• Indonesia National Air Carriers Association (INACA) — “LoI Studi Optimasi Operasional Bandara I Gusti Ngurah Rai antara AirNav Indonesia dan Boeing”, 15 September 2026.
• ANTARA — “AirNav dan Boeing optimasi kapasitas Bandara Ngurah Rai Bali”, 15 September 2026.