Flights to Labuan Bajo after the 15 August 2026 earthquake

At 04:58 on Saturday 15 August 2026, Western Indonesia Time, which was 05:58 in Labuan Bajo, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck offshore, about 30 kilometres north-east of Nagekeo on Flores (BMKG data in Bisnis.com, 15 August). The agency issued a tsunami early warning about two minutes later and ended it the same day. In Labuan Bajo the regent of West Manggarai said the sea rose by up to 0.3 metres and the wave was not dangerous (ANTARA, 15 August).

Shipping was temporarily closed. The Ministry of Tourism counted 986 visitors on Padar Island who could not leave; all of them were brought back to Labuan Bajo, and the port authority let tour boats sail again at 10:00 local time (ANTARA, 15 August).

The heavy loss was on Flores itself. The national disaster agency, BNPB, counted 68 deaths by 17 August, two of them in West Manggarai, the regency of Labuan Bajo (ANTARA, 18 August); NU Online reported 71 as of 19 August. The regent said no tourist died. BMKG had logged 11,185 aftershocks by 2 September and had said they would last three to four weeks after the main shock (BMKG, 21 August; RCTI+, 2 September).

It is, with repairs on the record. On the day of the quake the airport's operating unit, which belongs to the Ministry of Transportation, said it stayed open with restrictions in some areas. The runway and the apron were in good condition. A crack in one taxiway area was restricted pending inspection, and the fire station, the administration building and the landside part of the terminal were damaged; the usable parts of the terminal stayed open and the damaged parts closed (Kemenhub and CNN Indonesia, both 15 August). A report of 19 August from Monitor Indonesia adds a damaged terminal ceiling and a long crack along Taxiway A.

The airport was reported running normally from Monday 17 August, although Wings Air cancelled two departures that day, to Ende and to Bajawa, because of aftershocks, and the check-in hall was crowded with travellers, many of them foreign (detikBali, 17 August). Airports east of Labuan Bajo fared worse. On 17 August Bajawa cancelled every flight, and Ende, Ruteng and Waingapu cancelled some (Suara.com, 18 August).

On 3 September the Labuan Bajo Flores Authority, BPOLBF, said flights were running and asked travellers to reconfirm their schedules with the airline.

The newest scheduled link into Komodo Airport is the Wings Air flight from Makassar, which began on 19 July 2026 (detikBali, 19 July). The airline group's own release gives the times: IW-1910 leaves Makassar at 10:55 and lands in Labuan Bajo at 12:25 local time, on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, in a 72-seat ATR 72 (Lion Air newsroom, 16 July). Open trips on Princess Lala leave on Mondays and Fridays, and day-one pickup at the airport falls between 10:30 and 11:55. A 12:25 landing misses that window by half an hour.

The Kuala Lumpur flight lands later still. AirAsia's booking page for the route, which we opened on 12 October, lists a 10:45 departure and a 14:25 arrival and describes the route as running nearly every day.

Year-end fares are the last item. On 5 October the Ministry of Transportation's director of air transport told a coordination meeting that the government plans a ticket discount for Christmas and New Year, with value-added tax carried by the state (CNBC Indonesia, 8 October). No rate and no travel dates were given, and Bisnis.com wrote on 10 October that the form of the stimulus was still under discussion. That is not a fare you can book against.

Hotels first. BNPB's preliminary count on 18 August was 12 damaged hotels, 10 of them lightly and 2 heavily, and 8 damaged homestays, 5 lightly and 3 heavily, spread across the affected regencies, Nagekeo among them (ANTARA, 18 August). On 3 September BPOLBF listed five hotels around Labuan Bajo as ready and receiving guests: AYANA Komodo Waecicu Beach, Crowne Plaza, Meruorah, Sudamala and TA'AKTANA. It called the list provisional and incomplete. Hotels that had not reopened were being inspected by their own management, and electricity and telecommunications were back to normal.

The park stayed open. BNPB said on 18 August that Komodo National Park was open to domestic and foreign visitors, while three sites elsewhere on Flores were closed for inspection: Goa Rangko, Waerebo and Kelimutu National Park. By 31 August BPOLBF listed Goa Rangko again among the reopened sites, together with Pulau Kelor, Batu Cermin and Puncak Waringin. On Komodo Island the wall carrying the Loh Liang sign collapsed (ANTARA, 15 August). BPOLBF's stated rule, reported on 30 August, is safe before open: a damaged site reopens only after verification.

Short version: Princess Lala leaves on Mondays and Fridays, and nothing in the reports published since 17 August shows the airport, the boats or the park closed. What changed is the timing of flights and the hotel you can count on.

• Fly in the day before. Day-one pickup is between 10:30 and 11:55 from your hotel or the airport. The Makassar flight lands at 12:25 and the Kuala Lumpur flight at 14:25, so on a sailing day, Monday or Friday, either one puts you at the hotel and not on the boat.
• Going home after three days. On day three the boat docks mid-morning, 10:00 to 11:00, so book a flight after 13:00. Parts of the terminal were closed and check-in was crowded on 17 August; the margin is worth having.
• Two-day fare. The boat docks at the close of day two, 19:00 to 20:30, and you sleep in Labuan Bajo. Ask your hotel to confirm in writing that your room is open and has passed inspection; the BPOLBF list is provisional.
• Tickets already bought. If you hold a Makassar or Kuala Lumpur ticket, send us the flight number with your dates. We tell you whether the day works.
• The stops. Padar, Komodo and the rest stay subject to sea conditions, weather and park quotas, as they did before 15 August.

This page reports what officials said up to 3 September and what airline pages showed on 12 October. What the ground does in December, nobody can tell you.

This page reflects official statements and press reports up to 3 September, BMKG's aftershock count of 2 September and the airline pages as they stood on 12 October. The hotel figures are BNPB's preliminary count of 18 August and the list that BPOLBF itself called provisional on 3 September. A direct Singapore service has run to Labuan Bajo since December 2025 (ANTARA, 21 December 2025). When any of this changes, the date at the top of the page moves with it. The plain reading: the way in and out of Labuan Bajo works, a few buildings along the way are damaged, and a flight that lands after 11:55 on the day you sail misses the pickup.