Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali has experienced a significant upswing in passenger traffic this year, with figures from January to October 2023 showing an 86% increase compared to the same period in 2022.
Handy Heryudhitiawan, the General Manager of the airport, revealed that the total number of passengers served reached 17,769,651 this year, a substantial rise from the 9,568,853 passengers in 2022.
Aircraft movements also saw a notable increase, with 113,277 movements recorded in the last ten months, marking a 70% rise from the previous year’s 66,758. The split between domestic and international travel was almost even, with 8,157,374 domestic passengers and 9,612,277 international ones. The total aircraft movements comprised 61,058 domestic and 52,219 international.
October 2023 alone witnessed a 41% increase in passenger traffic compared to October 2022, serving 1,943,330 passengers and 12,126 aircraft movements. Of these, 893,101 were domestic passengers, and 1,050,229 were international, with international movements slightly dominating.
Jakarta was the most popular domestic route, accounting for 50% of domestic passengers, followed by Surabaya and Makassar. Internationally, Singapore led with 227,475 passengers, followed by Kuala Lumpur and Melbourne. Australian nationals constituted the largest group of foreign visitors, followed by Indians and Chinese.
Despite not yet reaching pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, the airport is showing strong signs of recovery, with projections suggesting it will reach 89% of its 2019 passenger traffic by the end of 2023. With the high season approaching and additional domestic and international routes being added, the airport expects to serve up to 20 million passengers by the end of the year.