Foreign Tourist Complains About 5 Hours Of Queue At Immigration Counter At Ngurah Rai Airport, This Is The Response Of The Deputy Governor Of Bali

Deputy Governor of Bali Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardhana Sukawati (wearing a hat) and Head of the Regional Office of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights Bali Anggiat Napitupulu (far left)/DOK of Public Relations of the Provincial Government of Bali-Kemenkum HAM

BADUNG - Deputy Governor of Bali Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardhana Sukawati (Cok Ace) visited I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, Bali, to check the situation regarding viral foreign tourists queuing at the immigration counter for up to 5 hours.

Cok Ace said there were 16 counters including 3 counters for the G20 delegates which were opened today in response to the queuing condition of foreign tourists on Sunday, July 31.

Cok Ace suggested an improvement process related to the tourist queue so that immigration checks could be accelerated considering that tourist visits had increased.

"Indeed, passenger goods seem to take a long time to process, between 30 minutes to 1 hour. But I have requested and hoped that the process of waiting for passenger goods could be accelerated. This is not anyone's fault, but the mechanism is like that", he said, in his written statement, Monday, August 1.

Bali Deputy Governor Cok Ace also asked Ngurah Rai Airport to add special seats for people with disabilities and parents who are queuing for baggage collection.

"This is important to do to provide adequate service to airport service users", he said.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Regional Office of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights (Kemenkum HAM) Bali, Anggiat Napitupulu, dismissed information about the 5-hour queue at the immigration counter. This information is written on a blog by foreign tourists visiting Bali.

"The person concerned came on Friday, July 29, 2022, from Bangkok, Thailand, and landed at I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport at 14:43 WITA. He then checked his health documents and went to the BRI counter to buy a Visa on Arrival (VoA)", said energetically.

"Based on the data on the registered immigration crossing application, the person concerned carried out an immigration check at 15:47 WITA, so the total time required for him to leave the plane, KKP inspection, VOA payment, and completion of immigration inspection was 53 minutes", he said.

Anggita said that the expansion of immigration policies regarding the addition of VoA country subjects and the granting of visa-free visits for countries in the Southeast Asian region had an impact on increasing the number of foreign tourists.

Automatically, he continued, the distance of international flights that landed at Ngurah Rai Airport became close together. This condition causes congestion in the arrival terminal area during peak hours.

"We have taken anticipatory steps towards the potential for overcrowding during peak hours by adding more officers, with a composition of 16 counters. Where 2 employees fill 1 counter can complete the inspection of 15.00 passengers per hour", he said.

Previously, an article with the title, "Bali Airport Becomes a Nightmare With Immigration Queues of Up to Five Hours", went viral and was shared via WhatsApp group. 

The article published by Loyalty Lobby, states that foreign tourists must queue at the international arrival terminal of Ngurah Rai Airport for up to 5 hours.