Datadawai Airport guide

Datah Dawai Airport (ICAO WALJ) sits at Long Lunuk village in Long Pahangai District, Mahakam Ulu Regency, East Kalimantan. It lies in the upper Mahakam River region, close to the border with Malaysia, and it is the only airport in the regency. Roads into the area are limited, so the airstrip is a main link to Samarinda for residents of the interior.

The airport has one paved runway, 02/20. The East Kalimantan provincial transportation agency extended it in 2015 with help from the Indonesian Army, from 850 m by 23 m to 1,600 m by 30 m. After the work, aircraft as large as the C-130 Hercules and ATR-72 could land. Other published sources still list a shorter strip, so the figure is worth checking before any charter planning.

There is no radio control tower, and the airport handles only pioneer flights. These are subsidised services run for the Ministry of Transportation. Susi Air flies a 12-seat Cessna on a Tuesday routing from Samarinda through Datah Dawai to Melalan in Melak, West Kutai. The airport is far from the regency capital, Ujoh Bilang, so travellers often continue by river boat.