Boosting Foreign Tourist Visits to the Island of the Gods, Garuda Indonesia Opens Seoul-Bali Return Flights

JAKARTA - The national airline Garuda Indonesia continues to boost foreign tourist visits to Bali.

One of the ways is by expanding the international flight network to Bali through return flight services for the Seoul (Incheon) - Denpasar (Bali) route.

Garuda officially serves this flight route on Sunday, December 4, 2022.

The inauguration of the flight was marked by the inaugural flight of GA 871 using the A330-300 fleet which has a capacity of 251 passengers.

Consists of a configuration of 36 business seats and 215 economy seats.

On the inaugural flight from Incheon, Seoul, Garuda Indonesia carried at least 141 passengers to Bali.

The Seoul (Incheon)-Denpasar (Bali) return flight will then be operated twice a week, namely on Sundays and Mondays which will be served from Incheon International Airport, Seoul with GA 871 and will depart from Incheon International Airport at 11.35 LT and is scheduled to arrive at I Gusti Ngurah Rai international airport at 17.50 WIB.

Meanwhile, flights from Bali to Incheon, Seoul will be served by GA870 which will depart from I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport at 01.25 WITA and arrive in Incheon at 09.15 LT.

Garuda Indonesia President Director Irfan Setiaputra said that the reopening of the flight route was a form of Garuda Indonesia's commitment and support for the recovery of the national tourism industry, especially Bali as one of Indonesia's strategic tourism hubs.

"We hope that with the opening of the Seoul to Bali flight, we can maximize the traffic of foreign tourist visits from the East Asia region, especially South Korea, as one of the countries with promising potential for tourist visits for Indonesia", he said in an official statement, quoted Monday, December 5.

With this flight, continued Irfan, tourists from South Korea will be able to access various tourist destinations in the Central and Eastern regions of Indonesia, with a more seamless choice of various flight schedules, from one of the flight hubs served by Garuda Indonesia.

To provide added value to service users on this inaugural flight, Garuda Indonesia is also working with various partners to provide added value flight services on the operation of these routes.

Some of the added value provided is a pick-up service for selected service users using the Hyundai IONIQ5 and Hyundai STARIA, personal health kits from Hyundai, Indonesian specialty coffee from Tanamera and Hyundai, chocolate bars from D'Lanier, 7-day internet roaming package and souvenirs from Telkomsel to photoshoot vouchers in Korea from Sweet Escape.

"The operation of international flight services from Seoul to Bali is also an important momentum for the company's ongoing efforts to optimize the international aviation market in encouraging an increase in foreign tourist arrivals", said Irfan.

"To various leading Indonesian tourist destinations, as we have done by opening the Narita - Denpasar, Melbourne-Jakarta routes, and soon through the opening of the Melbourne-Bali route", he said.

Meanwhile, the Governor of Bali, Wayan Koster appreciated Garuda Indonesia for making hard work efforts to open flights from Seoul to Bali. He said this step will accelerate the recovery of tourism in Bali

"This will accelerate our joint efforts to recover Bali tourism, after more than 2 years of experiencing a pandemic that has had an impact on the economic sector", said Wayan.

"Bali as a safe, comfortable, and conducive destination to visit is of course a form of joint hard work including support from Garuda Indonesia", he continued.

This step, said Wayan, is a joint momentum that should be grateful for amid the momentum of tourist growth which continues to show a positive trend.

"We must continue to optimize it by helping to ensure the consistency of implementing health protocols and managing the pandemic can be maintained properly", he said.