Ngurah Rai Airport Adds South Korean Route Airlines

UNSPLASH/CLArk Gu ILLUSTRATION

DENPASAR - I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport received additional airlines serving the South Korean route through the low-cost Incheon-Bali-Incheon.

General Manager of I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport Ahmad Syaugi Shahab said the airline was Jeju Air's foreign airline which landed for the first time on Sunday (27/10) last night.

"Airju as the first and largest airline in South Korea to serve low-cost airline flights, this is very appropriate because the tourist market from South Korea after the pandemic that came to Bali is ranked in the top 10 highest foreign tourists," he said as quoted by ANTARA, Monday, October 28.

With ticket prices ranging from Rp. 2 million, this airline will regularly fly directly from and to the country of ginseng without transit.

Syaugi assessed that the South Korean airline's decision to operate at I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport was appropriate because the interest in foreign tourists from the country was high.

Based on immigration data, the total arrival of foreign tourists with South Korean passports through the airport in South Bali in 2023 is 236,030 people or in seventh position.

This year, until the third quarter, the total South Korean foreigners served by Bali's I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport rose by two rankings to the fifth highest position with 220,033 people.

The number of South Korean foreigners who came through Bali's I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport during 2024 in the first quarter was 64.7 thousand people, in the second quarter 66 thousand people and the highest in the third quarter was 89 thousand people.

Previously, flights to South Korea were served by Garuda Indonesia airlines operating every day and Korean Air twice a day a week.

"With the increasing number of flights to and from Incheon, it will be a stimulus for increasing foreign tourists to Bali, especially from South Korea," said Syaugi.

Jeju Air flew on a Boeing type 737 MAX 8 aircraft, with the premiere of carrying 178 passengers which was greeted with water salute and a typical Bali dance.

After arriving at 21.50 WITA yesterday, the plane returned with passengers at 23.05 WITA and arrived in Incheon this morning at 07.10 local time.

To date, I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport has served 39 international flight routes in 19 countries, operated by 41 airlines.