Dortheys Hiyo Eluay International Airport
Dortheys Hiyo Eluay International Airport — also known as Sentani International Airport — is an airport serving Jayapura, the capital of Papua province, Indonesia, on the island of New Guinea. It is located in the town of Sentani, approximately 40 km from downtown Jayapura; the name 'Sentani' is taken from Lake Sentani nearby. It is the easternmost airport in Indonesia, the main hub, and the largest airport on the island of New Guinea. On 14 October 2019, the management of the airport was taken over by PT Angkasa Pura.
History
Sentani Airport was a part of the large American facilities at Hollandia, now named Jayapura, which was seized from the Japanese during World War II by an American amphibious task force code-named Operation Reckless on 22 April 1944.The area was occupied by the Japanese in April 1942, and by 10 October 1943, the Japanese had built a large complex with two runways: a western runway of 4,500 ft and a second southern runway of 6,200 ft x 340 ft. There were 24 larger bomber revetments to the west of the strip, and an additional 27 to the east of the field, connected by taxiways to the two runways. Anti-aircraft defenses included 4 light guns that were later upgraded. The airfields were badly cratered by American bomber raids.
Once controlled by the Americans, the airfields were rebuilt, and it became a command and control base with large numbers of operational units flying combat missions with fighters and heavy bombers operating out of the area. The American facilities consisted of three large military airfields: Hollandia, Sentani and Cyclops airfields.
At the end of the war, Hollandia Airfield was abandoned, and was reclaimed by natural overgrowth by the early 2010s. The latest aerial imagery of this area now shows a large housing development project underway on the site. Cyclops Airfield, which was a single-runway facility to the northeast of Sentani Airfield and originally built by the Japanese, was also abandoned and is now part of the town of Sentani. This field is notable because it functioned as MacArthur's HQ at Hollandia.
Sentani Airfield is the only part of the complex still in use as an airfield today. It is used as the principal entry point into the Indonesian half of the island of Papua.
International flights
The first international flight was to Lae, which was served by De Kroonduif from 1961 to 1962.Flights to Lae served by Garuda Indonesia from the 1960s but it was closed years later, In 1970s. Air Niugini operated a flight to Madang via Wewak using Douglas DC-3 aircraft
In 1988, Air Niugini operated a flight to Port Moresby via two stops in Vanimo and Wewak using Fokker 100, but unfortunately the route was ended in 1998 due to financial crisis and only serves domestic flights.
International flights resumed in 2014 when Airlines PNG operated a route to Port Moresby using DHC aircraft and later closed in 2016. In January 2017, PNG Air operated a route to Mount Hagen using ATR-72-600 aircraft.
As of 2025, there are no scheduled international flights to Papua New Guinea. The airport only serves international charter flights to other countries.
Major USAAF units stationed at Hollandia
- 308th Bombardment Wing
- 310th Bombardment Wing
- 85th Fighter Wing
- 3d Bombardment Group
- 312th Bombardment Group
- 49th Fighter Group
- 475th Fighter Group
- 317th Troop Carrier Group
- 418th Night Fighter Squadron
Name change
Facilities
The airport resides at an elevation of above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 12/30 with an asphalt surface measuring. Sentani Airport has three airbridges.Airlines and destinations
Passenger
Cargo
The airport serves as the main port of entry to the island of Indonesian New Guinea. The air traffic is roughly divided between flights connecting to destinations within the Papua province and flights linking Papua to other parts of Indonesia.Sentani Airport is also the main base for several aviation organizations, including Associated Mission Aviation, Mission Aviation Fellowship, YAJASI and Tariku Aviation.