Super Jumbo A380 Aircraft Lands In Ngurah Rai Bali, Brings 615 Foreign Tourists

DENPASAR - The largest commercial aircraft currently owned by Emirates' A380 landed for the first time at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, Bali, carrying 615 passengers from various countries.

"This flight is historic because it is the first time and indicates that Bali in particular and Indonesia generally remain the destination of foreign tourists to vacation. I hope other airlines also transport tourists by wide-body aircraft," said Bali Governor I Wayan Koster during the welcoming ceremony for the A380 Emirate aircraft at I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport, Badung, Bali, quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, June 1.

The Bali Provincial Government is grateful to the Emirati management for using the wide-body plane to Bali to transport passengers and as an international-class airline, the Emirates have been transporting tourists from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to Bali.

With this flight, he said, he is very optimistic that foreign tourist visits to Bali will continue to increase even though it is still in a "half-recovered" condition due to the COVID-19 pandemic, foreign tourist visits to Bali have been eroded.

Data shows that until April 2023 the number of foreign tourists visiting Bali will reach 1.5 million people and is targeted to reach 4.5 million tourists by the end of 2023.

"Seeing the dynamics that continue to improve, especially coupled with the Emirati flight using this wide-body aircraft, I am optimistic that by the end of this year it could reach 5 million," said Wayan Koster.

The Deputy for Marketing of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy Made Ayu Marthini said that Emirati's flight with wide-body aircraft certainly gave a very positive meaning to foreign tourist visits to Bali, especially and Indonesia in general.

The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy is very supportive of this flight and of course it is hoped that it can increase foreign tourist visits to Bali and other regions in Indonesia.

President Director of PT Angkasa Pura I (Persero) Faik Fahmi said his party together with other stakeholders had prepared optimally in welcoming the arrival of the A380.

"We have prepared various preparations both from the air and from the ground side so that the inaugural lander of this wide-body aircraft can run smoothly," said Faik.

According to Faik, the movement of passengers from the plane to the airport terminal or vice versa has been prepared by avibrata or aviobridge with two trunks to accommodate the Airbus A380-800 aircraft. To handle the placement of the Airbus A380-800, an arrangement of aircraft parking is carried out around it. Parking stands around it are only allocated for medium-body aircraft or narrow bodies to accommodate the A380-800 dimensions which have a wingspan of 79.5 meters.

The super jumbo A380 800 aircraft has a wingspan of up to 79.5 meters and a total body length of 72.7 meters.

This size makes Airbus A380 the largest passenger plane in the world to date. Emirates designed this aircraft to be able to carry several classes. Starting from four ultra long-range classes with a configuration of 484 seats, three long-range classes 517 seats, three ultra long-range class 489 seats, and two long-range 615 seats.