REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BEIJING -- Six Chinese cities have made an official request to Garuda Indonesia to operate chartered flights to the resort island of Bali.

"We are conducting an in-depth study regarding the request as we also have to consider the availability of aircraft and crew members," Vice President of Garuda Indonesia for China I. Wayan Subagia stated here on Tuesday (21/4).

The request from six Chinese cities came after Garuda Indonesia operated chartered flights from 10 Chinese cities to the world-renowned tourist island during the 2015 Chinese New Year celebrations.

The national flag carrier operated the chartered flights from January 29 to March 29 using Boeing 747-400 aircraft comprising 20 business-class seats and 435 economy-class seats.

"The flights occupancy had reached almost 95 percent," he pointed out.

Garuda Indonesia is planning to serve chartered flights from the Chinese cities to Bali during the summer holidays from June to August this year.

"If we open chartered flights for six more cities, we must profoundly consider the availability of aircraft and crew members," he noted.

Subagia stated that the request for chartered flights served as inputs for Garuda Indonesia to formulate a plan to operate new regular flights from China to Indonesia.

"We do not rule out the possibility that if one of the chartered flight routes shows promising prospects, we will turn it into a regular flight route," he remarked.

Garuda Indonesia has so far served regular flights from Jakarta to Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, as well as from Denpasar (Bali) to Beijing.

In mid-2015, Garuda Indonesia is expected to operate non-stop regular flights from Guangzhou to Denpasar. Similar flights will also be operated on the Shanghai-Denpasar route.

Bali is one of the favorite destinations for Chinese tourists.

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