Selayar - Haji Aroeppala Airport guide

Haji Aroeppala Airport (ICAO WAWH) is the air gateway to the Selayar Islands, a regency at the southern end of South Sulawesi. It sits in Bontoharu District, on the island of Selayar, and also serves visitors heading to Taka Bonerate National Park. The airport is named after H. Aroeppala, a Selayar-born politician who served as Mayor of Makassar from 1960 to 1965.

Construction ran from 1997 to 2000, and Transportation Minister Agum Gumelar opened the airport on 17 September 2000. The single asphalt runway, 16/34, measures 1,950 m by 30 m after an extension from 900 m. A 2,400 m extension has been proposed. The passenger terminal covers 2,268 m² and has a design capacity of up to 10,000 passengers a year. It was renovated in 2016 and inaugurated by President Joko Widodo in December 2018.

Traffic peaked in 2018 at about 69,000 passengers and 1,345 aircraft movements. It fell sharply after 2019, and the airport closed in June 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Garuda Indonesia, Citilink, Wings Air and Aviastar have all stopped serving it. FlyJaya now operates the only scheduled route, to Makassar.