Bali Ngurah Rai Airport Requires Passengers To Have Booster Vaccinations

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The manager of I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport, Bali, has officially implemented the mandatory COVID-19 booster vaccination for prospective passengers starting Sunday according to the Circular Letter of the Minister of Transportation Number 70 of 2022.

"As long as the new regulations take effect today, there are no obstacles, both experienced by airport officials and those experienced by prospective passengers," said General Manager of Angkasa Pura I Airport I Gusti Ngurah Rai Handy Heryudhitiawan as reported by ANTARA, Sunday, July 17.

On the first day of the implementation of this policy, the airport admitted that there was no accumulation so that no special anticipation was applied, also because similar regulations had been applied with adequate facilities.

Handy admitted that technically there were no significant changes to the inspection method despite the new policy.

He added that prospective passengers who had carried out booster vaccinations no longer needed to show negative evidence of antigen swab tests or PCR.

However, passengers who have just taken the second vaccine are required to show negative evidence of the antigen swab test, and those who have just completed the first vaccine must bring negative evidence of the PCR swab test.

"Prospective passengers who comply with regulations are allowed to travel. In our opinion, prospective passengers who will depart through Bali's I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport already know or have been informed of the new regulation," he said.

Although most service users understand this new rule, he still urges prospective passengers to continue to follow regulatory developments in the use of air transportation, especially I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport through official social media to make it easier to complete the process before traveling.

I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport currently has a booster vaccination post as one of the efforts to balance the new policy that applies as of this Sunday.

The COVID-19 vaccination service at the airport has been running since Thursday, July 7, and it has been observed that the enthusiasm of the community in participating in vaccination is high, even though the number is not as large as the previous COVID-19 service.

This does not raise concerns for Angkasa Pura I, considering that in Bali the number of booster vaccinations and the first and second vaccines is relatively high.

The arrivals and departures of airport service users also continue to increase. It is proven that until Saturday, July 16, as many as 13,192 passengers came to Bali and 14,112 took the departure route.