Several airlines have recently brought back direct international trips to Bali, a province of Indonesia. The most recent airlines to restart these flights are Malaysia Airlines and KLM Royal Dutch.
Today, a direct Kuala Lumpur-Denpasar flight landed at Bali’s primary airport, Ngurah Rai International Airport.
Denpasar is Bali’s capital, making it a popular tourist destination. Malaysia Airlines has a long history of flights to the city.
Bali had banned the arrival of international flights for well over a year in response to the coronavirus pandemic but recently announced new entry restrictions and lifted quarantine for international arrivals.
KLM Royal Dutch revived its direct international flights to Bali on March 9, resuming its Singapore-Denpasar route. Flight KL 835, transporting 76 passengers, touched down at Ngurah Rai at 7:45 p.m.
At 9:34 p.m., the plane turned around, transporting 15 passengers to Singapore.
People excited about the Balinese travel industry celebrated the return of international flights with beautiful water salutes upon the plane’s arrival at Ngurah Rai.
In addition to the two most recent returning airlines, the following have also restarted direct international Bali flights:
- Garuda Indonesia (Sydney-Denpasar, Narita-Denpasar)
- JetStar Asia Airways (Singapore-Denpasar)
- Scoot TigerAir (Singapore-Denpasar)
- Singapore Airlines (Singapore-Denpasar)
Herry A.Y. Sikado, Ngurah Rai’s general manager, has a positive outlook about flight resumptions. Sikado stated that direct international flights would help Bali’s tourism industry get back to normal.
Over 6 million international tourists visited Bali in 2019. The coronavirus pandemic dominated most of 2020, but over 1 million foreign tourists still visited before the province closed its borders.
Fewer than 50 international tourists visited in 2021.
Since the beginning of February, the resumption of many flights has combined with lowered COVID-19 restrictions to bring hundreds of international tourists.
Bali has not wholly eliminated COVID-19 restrictions. Currently, a court case is underway to determine whether the province should entirely drop tourist quarantine requirements.