Bali Airport Celebrates Welcoming Over 4.2 Million Passengers In First Half Of 2022

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Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport has hit another passenger milestone in the last week of June. Authorities from the airport have released passenger data for the first six months of 2022, and as was hoped, numbers are considerably better than in 2020, and 2021. 

Over the course of June, Bali Airport welcomes a total of 1,110,723 passengers through both the domestic and international terminals. Looking at figures from the year to date, Bali Airport has served a total of 4,297,277 passengers across terminals. 

Authorities shared a breakdown of the figures which confirm that Bali is on track to hit Tourism Minister Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno’s visitor targets by the end of the year. Minister Uno told the press during his weekly briefing on the 20th of June 2022 that he has set ambitious but achievable targets for tourism numbers for the rest of the year.

He has set a target of welcoming 1.5 million international visitors to Bali before the end of the year, with the addition of 7 million domestic travelers. According to the Bali Tribune News, Bali Airport as a company has a target of serving over 9 million passengers in 2022.

During June, Bali Airport welcomed a total of 745,528 passengers and 365,465 international arrivals. These passengers arrived in Bali via 5,105 aircraft serving routes across Indonesia, and 1,924 international flights. The airport processed an average of 37,000 passengers daily, two-thirds of which were domestic travelers. The daily flight average was 234 flights. 

The General Manager of I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, Handy Heryudhitiawan explained the figures to reporters during a press conference. He said that ‘when compared to this [this time last] year, there is an increase of up to 157 percent’. Heryudhitiawan referenced that the return of major international airlines and the resumption of significant international routes to Bali have played an enormous part in the dramatic rise in arrivals. 

“During June, there were five additional international schedules [resumed] to Dili, Hanoi, Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne by Batik Air Malaysia, VietJet Air, Citilink, and Virgin Australia. In July, [so far] there are additional international routes to the Philippines by Philippine Airlines and South Korea by Korean Air’ Heryudhitiawan reported to the press.

Bali Airport now serves 21 routes by 10 airlines, and 19 international routes, to 11 different countries making it increasingly easy for holidaymakers to get to Bali. 

This increase in international airlines and routes will hopefully calm the concerns of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economies in Indonesia who in recent weeks have expressed how their data suggests that demand for flights has outweighed supply.

Minister Uno has explained in his weekly briefings how ample flight availability for international tourists is the cornerstone of Bali’s tourism recovery. 

Heryudhitiawan ended his announcement with a request for continued efforts to support the control of Covid-19. “We welcome the increase in the number of passengers in the first half of 2022. For that, we ask for the support of service users and all stakeholders to maintain health protocols in the airport environment for the security and safety of all of us’. 

The Indonesian Central Government and National Covid-19 Task Force have announced this week upcoming changes to travel restrictions in light of a recent surge in cases. The Java-Bali Covid-19 Restrictions Coordinator Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan announced on Tuesday that in ‘a maximum of two weeks’ travelers will be required to show proof of a booster vaccination upon entry to the country.

Though no date has been set, authorities can be expected to make an announcement regarding the enforcement of these new changes in the coming days.

Pandjaitan said ‘The government will also re-implement the requirement for booster vaccination as a condition for travel by air, land, and sea, which will be carried out in a maximum of two weeks…To encourage booster vaccination, and support travel requirements and entry to public places, [venues] such as malls and offices will be changed to booster vaccinations [centers]’.

Bali residents are being encouraged to get their booster vaccine and countries like Australia, where the majority of Bali’s international tourists come from, are also increasing the rate of booster vaccine availability.