With Christmas just a few weeks away, teams at Bali’s I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport are already increasing security efforts and putting seasonal logistical operations into place.
Over the festive season, Bali typically welcomes an additional 1 million tourists.
While Indonesia is a majority Muslim nation, and Bali is a majority Balinese Hindu province, Christmas is a holiday celebrated by millions of Christians and Catholics across the country.
Christmas and New Year are major holidays in Indonesia, and domestic travel soars nationwide. In Bali, the province welcomes a considerable surge in domestic tourists and a massive influx of international tourists, too.
With tens of millions of people on the move, Christmas and New Year logistical and security operations in Indonesia start as early as November. The Director General of Air Transportation at the Ministry of Transportation, Lukam F Laisa, told reporters that a special operational plan for the aviation industry will be carried out for Christmas 2025 and the New Year 2026.
He confirmed that the operation and monitoring posts will come into effect on 18th December until 4th January, and activities at 257 airports across Indonesia will be taken into consideration. Laisa told the media, “We estimate the number of passengers will increase compared to last year, both for domestic and international routes.”
The busiest airports are predicted to be Soekarno-Hatta in Jakarta, Ngurah Rai International in Denpasar, Sultan Hasanuddin in Makassar, Kualanamu in Medan, and Juanda in Surabaya.
The highest volume of incoming air traffic to Indonesia is expected to come from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.
For Bali specifically, Australians remain the most frequent international arrivals.
Laisa told reporters, “We have prepared a contingency plan and disaster-prepared airport guidelines to deal with emergency situations.” The central government has agreed with airline operators to reduce airfares during he festive season with a VAT discount on economy tickets, as well as reduced airport service fees and reduced aviation fuel prices at 37 major airports.
Laisa explained, “The fare discount applies to ticket purchases between 22nd October 2025 and 10th January 2026, and the travel period between 22nd December 2025 and January 10th 2026. Hopefully, this will be the best gift for passengers this holiday season.”
Demand for travel to Bali just keeps increasing, and airlines are responding by adding more services to the weekly schedule. This week, a new international flight was added to the schedule at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International by TransNusa Airlines. The new Denpasar-Singapore route by TransNusa is the eighth service provider for this journey.
The General Manager of I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport, Ahmad Syaugi Shahab, told reporters, “Now I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport is officially served by a total of nine airlines for this route,” he said.
The eight airlines that started operating earlier were Garuda Indonesia, Singapore Airlines, Scoot Tiger Airways, Indonesia AirAsia, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Batik Air, Jetstar Airways, and Saudia Airlines. TransNusa will operate the Denpasar-Singapore service six times a week, on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays.
Shahab explained “The opening of this route not only expands international connectivity options from Bali but also reflects the aviation industry’s strong confidence in Bali’s market potential.”
The addition of this new TransNusa service means that I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport now serves 45 international routes and 11 domestic routes, operated by 51 airlines.
Tourists looking to travel over the festive season should look out for Black Friday travel deals in the coming two weeks.
Every year, the busiest international flights to Bali sell out long in advance, with the first wave of arrivals landing three days before Christmas and another wave of tourists arriving on the 29th and 30th December, ready to celebrate New Year’s Eve.
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