REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, KUTA -- Three foreign airlines plan to open direct flights to Bali to meet foreign tourists' interest to visit the island, an official from Bali's airport operating company PT Angkasa Pura I said here on Thursday (7/5).
Robert D. Waloni, the company's director for marketing and business development, affirmed that in view of that, Bali's I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport will continue to improve its facilities.
"We plan to add more facilities such as a rapid exit taxiway to increase the utility of the airport's runway from 24 flight movements per hour to 28 to 30," he stated.
The three foreign airlines that plan to open flights to Bali are Myanmar National Airlines, Beijing Capital Airlines and Spring Airlines based in Shanghai.
Moreover, to accommodate the increasing number of tourists from China, Indonesia AirAsia also plans to make Bali's airport its small hub and to operate several wide-bodied aircraft to offer charter service to and from several cities in China.
According to Waloni, after Bali's airport was ranked the 7th best in the world in the 15 to 25 million passengers per year category, a similar recognition was given to PT Angkasa Pura I.
At the 13th Asia Routes Meeting in Yunnan, China, in March 2015, Bali's I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport was included in the list of five nominees for the "Airport Marketing Award" in the four to 20 million passengers a year category.
"I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport competed with 150 airports in the Asia-Pacific region in the equal passengers class," he noted.
In addition, there was positive assessment from Australian Jetstar Airways, which considers the passenger route in the airport the best.
The low-cost carrier, Waloni revealed, also stated that the highest passenger growth of 14 percent for Jetstar was recorded by passengers traveling to Bali.
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