Bali’s I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport has confirmed that 4 major international airlines will be adding new flight services to the schedule. Starting from 1st December airlines based in China and India will be making it easier than ever for tourists to visit the Island of the Gods. The General Manager of I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, Handy Heryudhitiawan, has confirmed to reporters that four big airlines will be increasing flight availability to Denpasar. He said “This information is that in early December 2023, there will be the addition of Xiamen Airlines; they are adding flights from cities in China. Bali is still being targeted by international airlines; this is extraordinary momentum.”
Xiamen Airlines will be adding more direct flights to Bali from China, and Vistara and IndiGo will be increasing their services, too, with more details to be confirmed shortly. Finally, Etihad Airways, based out of the United Arab Emirates, will soon feature more frequently on the weekly flight schedule. Heryudhitiawan added, “This is proof that the market in Bali is still strong because there are several airlines that are also planning to change the type of aircraft to a larger size.” At present, I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport is served by 36 airlines across 30 international routes. In terms of domestic travel, thirteen airlines are covering 19 domestic routes across the archipelago.
On 1st December, Vistara will launch a new daily service between New Delhi and Denpasar. The long-anticipated first direct flight between Bali and India has been praised by tourism leaders as the first and most important step in increasing the bond between the two majority Hindu destinations. For travelers closer to Bali, in Australia specifically, travel to the Island of the Gods just became heaps easier too, and it’s a sign to get better still. Earlier this month, Batik Air launched the direct Adelaide-Bali flight service. The service from Adelaide means that tourists from eight Australian cities can now fly directly to Bali; Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Sydney, and Perth. A new Canberra-Bali flight with Batik Air is due to launch in March 2024.
Bali Airport is busy; the terminals service an overage of 65,000 passengers a day across 400 aircraft movements. Heryudhitiawan has also confirmed that Emirates has submitted a request to increase its Airbus A380 service. The Airbus A380 is the biggest commercial aircraft in the world and is already landing daily in Bali.
Heryudhitiawan explained, “On June 1st, 2023, Bali made history as the first airport in Indonesia to land the largest Airbus in the world and operated to this day with a good load factor. And then the issue is that they [Emirates] want to ask for additional slots.” Now, Heryudhitiawan and his teams are working to scale the capacity of the airport to accommodate soaring demand for travel to Bali. News that four airlines are increasing their flight services to Bali is good news for tourists around the world, especially those planning long-haul trips to Bali. Increased flight availability out of transit hubs in India and the United Arab Emirates means that tourists have more choice when it comes to a layover. These four airlines are not alone in fact, on Sunday the Indonesian Minister for Tourism and Creative Economies, Sanidaga Uno, confirmed that even more airlines are making applications to increase flight services across Indonesia, including in Bali. Minister Uno said that Garuda Indonesia, Citilink, Batik Air, Lion Air, Super Air Jet, and Air Asia have all submitted requests for additional flight services in December. Travelers planning their next trip to Bali should be on the lookout for travel deals in the next couple of weeks. Flight prices have already started to fluctuate ahead of the Christmas and New Year holidays. These next two weeks are usually the cheapest flights will be before the inevitable hike in fares as demand soars. (the bali sun)
