Do you know that Kemayoran Airport is the first airport in Indonesia that serves international flights? Yes, the airport runway was built in 1934 and officially opened on July 8, 1940—79 years ago.

Kemayoran airport had two intersecting runways; the north-south runway with 2,475 x 45 meters and a west-east runway with 1,850 x 30 meters.

Before the inauguration on July 6, 1940, Kemayoran Airport had started operating with the first arrival of aircraft, the D-3 Dakota, that belongs to the Dutch East Indies airline company, Koningkelije Nederlands Indische Luchtvaart Maastschapik (KNILM), which was flown from Tjililitan Airport. DC-3 then continued its flight to Australia a day later.

On the same day, KNILM showed several aircraft, like DC-2 Univer, DC-3 Dakota, Foker F-VIIb 3m, Grumman G-21 Goose, de Havilland, DH-89 Dragon Rapid, and Lockheed L-14 Super Electra aircraft.

Japan attacked Kemayoran Airport two years later

On February 9, 1942, Kemayoran Airport was attacked by Japanese warplanes. The Dutch were unable to ward off the attack. Various commercial aircraft that were belonging to KNILM was then moved to Australia. When Japan surrendered to the Allies, the Dutch again took control of this airport until 1949.

After the war for independence in 1958, the Indonesian government directly handled civil aviation and airports under the Civil Aviation Department, which is now known as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. In 1960, the management of Kemayoran Airport was handed over to a BUMN named Angkasa Pura Kemayoran Company which later changed its name to Perum Angkasa Pura I.

A story about Kemayoran Airport in "The Adventures of Tintin"

The existence of Kemayoran Airport was even immortalized in a legendary comic "The Adventures of Tintin", with the title of "Flight 714 to Sydney", which was released in 1968. Tintin seemed to be a silent witness to the splendour of the best airport in the ASEAN region.

During the Soeharto era, Kemayoran Airport was getting busier. In the period 1970-the the 1980s, the flight frequency penetrated up to 100 thousand aircraft every year. This made the government to be overwhelmed. That’s why the government moved international flights to Halim Perdanakusuma Airport, East Jakarta, while Kemayoran Airport only serves domestic flights. At the same time, the government began to build a new airport in Cengkareng with the name Soekarno-Hatta Airport which began operating on May 1, 1985.

Kemayoran Airport officially stopped operating 

Three months before Soekarno-Hatta Airport opened, Kemayoran Airport slowly began to close. Until March 31, 1985, this airport officially stopped operating for good at 00:00 WIB or after 45 years of operation. Another reason for the closure of Kemayoran Airport is because it is considered no longer feasible to operate. After all, it is located in the middle of the city. 

Aviation safety issues were also another factor in the closure of Kemayoran Airport. The distance between the airports of Kemayoran Airport is also close to Soekarno-Hatta Airport and Halim Perdanakusuma Airport.

Now the area has turned into a business and residential center. Several star hotels, offices, international trade, and shopping centers are also being built in the area.

Currently, Kemayoran Airport can be remembered through Jalan Benjamin Syueb and Jalan HBR Motik, which were formerly the runways of Kemayoran Airport, and there is still a tower in the form of Air Traffic Control (ATC) at the airport.