Yuvai Semaring Airport guide

Yuvai Semaring Airport serves Long Bawan, the main settlement of the Krayan highlands in Nunukan Regency, North Kalimantan. No road links the highlands to the rest of the province, so the airport is the practical way in and out for residents, goods and officials. It sits at about 762 metres above sea level, roughly 9 km from the Malaysian border.

The airfield began as a rural airstrip built by missionaries. The first aircraft landed at Long Bawan in 1973, flown by Mission Aviation Fellowship. The runway grew from about 900 metres to 1,100 metres in 2012 and 2013, and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono inaugurated the project on 15 September 2014. Works in 2019 and 2020 lengthened it to 1,600 metres and added a new two-story terminal of 1,000 square metres. An ATR 42 landed for the first time on 21 May 2021. The runway has no instrument approach.

The airport carried 33,583 passengers in 2024. Subsidised pioneer flights are the only scheduled service, and they link Long Bawan with Malinau, Nunukan, Tanjung Selor and Tarakan. The airport is named after Juvai Semaring, a giant in Dayak Lundayeh legend. A separate 200 square metre cargo terminal handles freight, and souvenir shops in the terminal sell local Lundayeh crafts.