Bendungan Batujai’s seaplane role is still a planning-stage MoU, not a working waterbase. NTB’s provincial government and PT Aman Air agreed on 28 February 2026 to develop the Central Lombok reservoir into a base for amphibious flights to five NTB islands, but landing permits for Gili Trawangan were unissued because the island sits inside a conservation area.
What Exactly Was Signed on 28 February 2026?
The document reported on that date was a memorandum of understanding, not a construction permit or an operating license. NTB’s provincial government and PT Aman Air used it to formalize intent: the company would study and, if cleared, build a seaplane waterbase at Bendungan Batujai in Central Lombok, and the province would support the amphibious network toward five NTB island destinations, including Gili Trawangan. An MoU in Indonesian infrastructure planning is a starting gate, not a finish line. It commits both sides to feasibility work, land and water-use coordination, and further permitting rounds rather than to a fixed opening date. The same reporting that carried news of the MoU also carried the caveat that matters most for travelers: take-off and landing permits for Gili Trawangan had not been issued, because the island falls inside a conservation area with its own approval chain separate from aviation sign-off.
Why Would a Dam Reservoir Suit Amphibious Seaplane Operations?
A reservoir behaves differently from open sea, and that difference is the whole logic behind picking Batujai over a coastal site. Amphibious floatplanes need calm, obstruction-free water long enough for a take-off and landing run, protection from ocean swell, and a fixed shoreline where fuel, mooring, and passenger handling infrastructure can sit without tidal movement. A dam-fed reservoir offers flatter water than the open Lombok Strait, no tidal swing to manage, and a controllable perimeter that is easier to fence off from other water traffic than a public harbor. Coastal alternatives on Lombok’s west side face the same currents and wind-against-current chop that already complicate the Gili fast-boat crossings described for travelers researching airport seaplane transfer in Lombok options; a reservoir sidesteps that variable entirely for the takeoff and landing phase, even though the aircraft still has to fly out over open water to reach Gili Trawangan, Gili Air, or Gili Meno.
How Does Batujai Relate to the Airport and Mandalika?
Batujai sits within Central Lombok Regency, the same regency that hosts Bandara Internasional Zainuddin Abdul Madjid (BIZAM) and the Mandalika special economic zone and racing circuit. That shared administrative footprint is precisely why planners are looking at Batujai rather than a base near Mataram in the north: a waterbase inside Central Lombok keeps ground transfer times short for travelers already flying into BIZAM or staying in the Mandalika resort corridor, and it avoids routing seaplane development through the more built-up, higher-traffic coastline near the provincial capital. None of the public reporting to date gives a fixed drive time or flight distance between Batujai, the airport, and Mandalika’s hotel strip, so treat “same regency, short regional hop” as the accurate description for now rather than a specific minute count, which nobody has published.
What Is the Realistic Timeline?
Two separate pieces of NTB tourism reporting frame the pace differently, and both matter for setting expectations. Reporting dated 27 December 2025 said seaplane flights linking BIZAM to small islands were being prepared to start in 2026. The MoU reporting from 28 February 2026 describes the Batujai waterbase specifically as a preparation step for amphibious service to five island destinations, still pending the Gili Trawangan permit. Nothing in either report locks in a 2027 launch; any reference to a 2027 network, including on this page, is a projection built from the pace of MoU-to-operation timelines elsewhere in Indonesia, not a confirmed schedule from NTB or PT Aman Air.
| Milestone | Status (as of Sep 2026) | Source date |
|---|---|---|
| BIZAM-to-islands seaplane prep announced | Reported in progress | 27 Dec 2025 |
| NTB government + PT Aman Air MoU signed | Signed | 28 Feb 2026 |
| Batujai waterbase site work | Not confirmed publicly | — |
| Gili Trawangan take-off/landing permit | Not yet issued (conservation area) | As of 28 Feb 2026 report |
| Water Aerodrome Ministerial Regulation in force | In force | Aug 2025 |
| Scheduled Lombok-Gili seaplane service | Does not exist | As of mid-2026 |
| 2027 full network | Projection only, unconfirmed | — |
What Must Be Certified Before Any Flight Leaves Batujai?
Indonesia’s Ministerial Regulation on Water Aerodromes, in force since August 2025, sets the compliance bar for any waterbase, Batujai included. The regulation treats a seaplane as a vessel while it is on the water and as an aircraft once airborne, which is the same dual-status logic ICAO guidance uses internationally. In practice that means a Batujai operation would need to clear requirements from both the aviation side and the maritime side before carrying a paying passenger.
- The water aerodrome itself must be certified or registered, not simply announced or built.
- The operator must coordinate with coastal radio stations and vessel traffic services covering the reservoir and any transit water.
- An operational coordination agreement with AirNav Indonesia is required, alongside coordination with maritime units responsible for the water surface.
- Because a reservoir is inland and dam-managed, water-release schedules and irrigation authority sign-off would sit alongside the usual aviation approvals, an added layer a coastal waterbase would not face.
- Separately, Gili Trawangan’s own take-off/landing permit runs through conservation-area approval, independent of whatever certification Batujai itself completes.
Each of these is a distinct approval track, and a public MoU addresses none of them directly. The MoU signals intent to pursue certification, not the certification itself.
What Would Change for Travelers If the Waterbase Becomes Operational?
Today, every publicly bookable way to reach Gili Trawangan, Gili Air, or Gili Meno from Lombok is a boat, paired with a land transfer if the traveler starts from BIZAM or Mandalika rather than the Bangsal or Teluk Nare harbors. If Batujai clears certification and Gili Trawangan receives its landing permit, the realistic addition would be a short amphibious hop that replaces part of that boat-plus-transfer routine, not a wholesale replacement of the existing fast-boat network, which would keep operating regardless. Weather would still set the operating envelope: Lombok Strait’s current and wind-against-current chop, worst during the monsoon transition months, would apply to a seaplane’s over-water leg just as it already limits fast-boat comfort and reliability, and no low-light water landing would be realistic on safety grounds. Until the permits, certification, and a published schedule all exist, boats remain the only citable way to move between Lombok and the Gilis, and any planning around a Batujai-based seaplane service should carry a firm “unconfirmed, subject to change” label.
Frequently Asked Questions
Has PT Aman Air announced ticket prices for flights from Batujai?
No. No fare table for a Batujai-based route has been published as of mid-2026. The 28 February 2026 MoU covers waterbase development intent, not a commercial schedule or pricing, and no seaplane fare structure exists yet for any Lombok-Gili route.
Will the Batujai waterbase replace the Bangsal and Teluk Nare boat harbors?
Nothing published suggests that. The MoU describes an additional amphibious option, not a substitute for existing infrastructure. Bangsal and Teluk Nare’s boat services, and their established fare structures, are expected to keep operating whether or not the Batujai waterbase clears certification and permitting.
Why is Gili Trawangan’s permit separate from the Batujai waterbase approval?
Gili Trawangan is designated a conservation area, which routes any take-off or landing permit there through conservation authorities rather than aviation regulators alone. Batujai’s certification as a water aerodrome under the August 2025 regulation is a separate process; both approvals are required before any Batujai-to-Trawangan flight could legally operate.