Marinda Airport Waisai Review
Review of Marinda Airport Waisai
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The welcome sign as you walk into the Marinda Airport in Waisai, Raja Ampat |
This is also the closest airport to Waisai Harbor, where you catch your boat to the resort you are staying at. The Marinda Airport officially opened in May 2012 due to increased tourism to Raja Ampat.
Currently, the airport is undergoing structural renovations to better the facilities and load of the terminal. The renovations include extending the airport runway to accommodate larger wide-bodied aircraft like the Airbus A320s and Boeing 737s. At the moment, only the ATR turboprop planes can land here.
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Arriving lets you walk to the main terminal building. |
So they simply named the airport after both of them, calling it Marinda.
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The baggage collection area is still manual here. |
Before you exit, there are some general notice boards with signs indicating the cost of travelling around Waisai.
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The one and only gift and general store at Marinda Airport |
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The transportation service from the Marinda Airport to various places in Waisai |
Outside, minor renovations are still ongoing, but at a very slow pace as debris and construction materials are seen lying around the area. Well, they are doing upgrading works, and if all goes smoothly, the new Marinda airport should be ready by the end of 2018 or early 2019, according to the locals.
Marinda Airport is a stand-alone airport located about 20 minutes from Waisai Harbor. My group was decently large, with about 15 people; hence a local bus from the 1980s was arranged to send us to the harbour. It was a classic design without air conditioning and slide-up windows; this was indeed a trip down memory lane.
The bus ride took us through a pristine rainforest, which was so raw, just like those I have seen deep in Borneo. I sat at the last seat by the window to capture anything out of the ordinary on my camera, and to my surprise, as the bus was travelling, an eagle was flying next to the bus after being startled.
You can imagine the look on my face when I saw it. This is truly Raja Ampat. If you are planning to visit this exotic place in West Papua, please remember to get your Raja Ampat Marine park permit from Sorong before you come to Waisai.
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Wings Air ATR-72 aircraft that flies to the Marinda Airport. |
Airlines that fly to Marinda Airport in Waisai
As of April 2018, only two airlines fly to Marinda Airport in Waisai. They are Susi Air, which has used a Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft since 2012, and Wings Air, which started once-a-day flights in January 2017.
Wings Air uses an ATR 72-600 aircraft for this flight which operates in four cities. The flight route is Manado, Waisai, Sorong, and Manokwari, a once-a-day flight. This means the airport only operates from 8.00 AM to around 5.00 PM.
Nam Air and Sriwijaya Air are to operate flights to Marinda Airport from Sorong Airport. There are 17 flights a week operating this route, but you should double check the schedules, as, at times, other airlines may cancel or reschedule.
In 2018, news surfaced that AirAsia flights to Raja Ampat may soon be available, but this was only verbally announced. Once AirAsia starts flying here, the airline will most likely land at the Sorong Airport due to the size of its aircraft unless the Marinda Airport is ready to accept larger aircraft.
Overall, you should not be booking a three or five-day trip here as it is not worth it. You must spend at least a week in Raja Ampat to enjoy this fantastic place. Again, for those who plan to take a flight from Sorong to Waisai, this is the main airport you will arrive at, and I hope you got some valuable information from my review of Marinda Airport in Waisai.
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