Syamsudin Noor International Airport

The airport is named after Syamsudin Noor, an Indonesian Air Force pilot and Indonesian nationalist from South Kalimantan. He crashed into mount Galunggung during a flight from Bandung to Tasikmalaya. His remains are buried in Cikutra Heroes Cemetery, Bandung.[6][7][8] Before 1970, the airport was named Ulin Airfield, which was named after after the district where the airport is located. It was originally built by the Japanese occupation forces in 1944 to support the war effort against the Allied forces. At that time the airfield only has a runway measuring 2,220 meters long and 45 meters wide.[9]

After the Dutch returned to Banjarmasin, in 1948, the Dutch colonial admistration conducted some minor renovations to the airport, notably hardening the runway with a new 10 centimeters thick foundation.[10] After the Dutch left, the airport was handed over to the Indonesian government. Because it was considered as an important and strategic asset, the Indonesian government is slowly starting to develop the airport. In the period from 1974 to 1977, the runway was lengthened to accommodate larger aircrafts such as the Fokker-28. Initially having the status of a non-civilian airport, the airport was finally designated as a civillian airport in 1975.[10]

As the airport was running overcapacity, further development and expansion was required. In early 2013, this airport served 5.5 million passengers, whereas the capacity was only for 4.0 million passengers. In August 2012, about 58 hectares of 102 hectares (57%) of the land needed for the expansion had been acquired.[11] The development work was predicted to be completed in late 2014.[12] However, the development was delayed due to land acquisition problems and didn't get underway until 2017.[13]

To increase the airport's capacity and services, Angkasa Pura I built a new terminal at Syamsudin Noor Airport along with other supporting facilities to overcome the problem of lack of capacity with an investment value of Rp.2.2 trillion (US$1.4 billion). This airport development project is also included in one of the National Strategic Projects (PSN).[14]

The airport development project consists of 2 phases. Phase I, which effectively started in 2018, includes work including the construction of a passenger terminal building covering an area of 77,569 square meters which can accommodate 7 million passengers/year, equipped with 42 check-In counters, 3 jetbridges and 4 baggage conveyors. Phase 2, which effectively started in 2017, includes expanding the apron to an area of 129,812 square meters to accommodate parking for 14 narrow-body aircraft, building supporting building facilities and other supporting infrastructure including a new cargo building covering an area of 3,079 square meters and a vehicle parking yard with a total area of 36,780 square meters to accommodate 1,199 four-wheeled vehicles and 720 two-wheeled vehicles.[14]

The expansion was completed and began operating in December 2019.[15] The airport terminal was expanded from 9,000 square meters to 77,569 square meters and is able to accommodate 10 million passengers per year. The new airport terminal began operations on 10 December 2019. The new apron can accommodate 20 aircraft (2 Boeing 747, 2 Boeing 777 , 2 Boeing 767, 12 Boeing 737, and 2 ATR-72).[16][17] The runway of the airport was also extended from 2,500 × 45 m to 3,000 × 45 m.

During the hajj season, Syamsudin Noor Airport serves pilgrims from the region for a direct flight to Jeddah with a short stopover at Batam. A hajj terminal was built to coordinate pilgrims. In 2010, it was the busiest hajj airport in Indonesia, with the greatest number of hajj travelers.

• On 13 January 1980, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 PK-GND of Garuda Indonesia named "Brantas", was damaged beyond repair in a heavy landing. There were no injuries.
• On 26 August 1980, at 06:29 local time, a Vickers Viscount of Far Eastern Air Transport opby Bouraq Indonesia Airlines (registered PK-IVS) crashed near Jakarta during a scheduled passenger flight from Banjarmasin that was operated on behalf of Bouraq, killing 31 passengers and 6 crew on board. The pilots had lost control of the aircraft over Tanjung Karawang whilst approaching Kemayoran Airport when the right elevator broke off. It was later determined that the fastenings had exceeded their lifetime by a factor of three without having been substituted during maintenance checkups. The plane was operating on a flight from Banjarmasin to Jakarta. At 06:04, the crew issued a Mayday call, stating shuddering of the airplane. Air traffic control vectored a Fokker F-28 to intercept the plane. At 06:28, the F-28 crew noticed problems with the right elevator and stated that the plane was falling to the left. After separation of the right elevator, the Viscount crew lost control. It impacted the ground inverted, about 25° nose down relative to the ground and with its port wing low. The cause of this accident was the in-flight fracture of the spigot in the elevator tab circuit. This part had exceeded the 12.000 flight hours retirement life by 21.000 hrs resulting in a life of 33.000 hrs.[21]
• On 4 January 1989, a Bouraq Indonesia Airlines PK-IHA HS 748 suffered extensive damage when the pilots had to perform a belly landing at Syamsudin Noor Airport, following a failure of the landing gears with 47 passengers and five crew on board.[22]
• On 28 August 1992, Vickers Viscount PK-IVX of Bouraq Indonesia Airlines was damaged beyond economic repair when an engine fire forced the crew to abort the take-off.[23]
• On 16 August 2013, Garuda Indonesia Boeing 737-8U3 PK-GMH flight 532 from Jakarta suffered from nose wheel steering malfunction. The aircraft landed safely but needed to be towed off the runway.
• On 16 April 2016, ATR 72-500 PK-KSC of Kalstar Aviation flight KD931 was climbing from Banjarmasin to Kotabaru when the crew reported a fire indication in the number 1 engine. The plane returned and landed at Banjarmasin about 15 minutes later. The aircraft stopped on the runway and was evacuated. There were no injuries. Indonesia's Ministry of Transportation confirmed the aircraft suffered an engine fire indication; the engine was shut down.

• Accident history for BDJ at Aviation Safety Network