# Sisingamangaraja XII Airport

Raja Sisingamangaraja XII Airport (Indonesian: Bandar Udara Raja Sisingamangaraja XII) (IATA: DTB, ICAO: WIMN) is a domestic airport located in Silangit, North Tapanuli, North Sumatra, Indonesia. The airport was known as Silangit Airport before being named after Batak warrior and king Sisingamangaraja XII (1849–1907) in 2018.
The airport serves as the main gateway to the nearby Lake Toba as well as the surrounding area. The airport is aimed at increasing air connectivity to support economic and tourism growth at this lake, which was included in Indonesia's 10 new emerging destinations. The airport is located about 47 mi (76 km) from Parapat town. Passengers can use online-enabled transportation like Grab to connect to nearby towns. The airport was named the best airport in Asia-Pacific in 2020 (under 2 million passengers per annum) by Airports Council International.

## History

Silangit Airport was originally built during the Japanese occupation era. The development of this airport began in 1995 by extending the runway from the original 900 meters to 1,400 meters. In March 2005, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono inaugurated the operation of Silangit Airport. Since then, the airport started developing rapidly. In 2011, the airport eventually had a 2,400-meter runway, which again extended in 2015 to 2,650 meters (8,700 × 150 ft) to accommodate wide-bodied airplanes regularly. The airport became an international airport on 28 October 2017 with the first charter flight to Singapore, operated by Garuda Indonesia. On April 2 2024, the Ministry of Transportation revoked the airport's international status.

## Development

Due to an increase in tourism growth, the government has upgraded the airport's facilities, such as building a new terminal, lengthening the runway, and widening the apron. With the inauguration of the well-equipped and modern terminal on 15 September 2017, the airport can provide a more comfortable environment for its passengers. The development of the airport also involves the expansion of the terminal from a capacity of 36,500 passengers per year to 1 million passengers per year. The airport’s passenger terminal encompasses an area of 500 square meters and will be expanded to 1,700 m2. The new terminal also includes several new installations that did not exist in the old terminal, such as Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine. This was done so that the airport could serve international flights beginning in the subsequent year.
Developments to the Medan-Tebing Tinggi-Parapat toll road are also undergoing, easing access to the airport. The development of the Siantar-Danau Toba railway was expected to be fully operational in 2019. This was expected to cut the trip from Medan to Parapat to 3.5 hours.

## Facilities

The airport has full digital-based services, which include digital airport bus schedules, e-payment systems, a wifi.id corner and smart baggage claim – a facility to monitor the position of passengers' baggage. The airport is also equipped with tourism information kiosks that give a wide range of information about activities in the nearby area.

## Runway

The airport has a runway of 2,650 m × 45 m (8,694 ft × 148 ft), which was extended from the original 2,400 meters in 2016 to accommodate larger aircraft and eventually to boost tourism growth in the region.

## Airlines and destinations

| Airlines | Destinations |
| Citilink | Batam, Jakarta–Halim Perdanakusuma |
| Indonesia AirAsia | Jakarta–Soekarno-Hatta |
| Super Air Jet | Batam, Jakarta–Soekarno-Hatta |

## Statistics

Busiest domestic routes from DTB by frequency (April 2024) :
| Rank | Destinations | Frequency (weekly) | Airlines |
| 1 | Jakarta–Soekarno-Hatta | 28 | Batik Air, Indonesia AirAsia, Super Air Jet |
| 2 | Jakarta–Halim Perdanakusuma | 5 | Citilink |
| 3 | Batam | 3 | Citilink |