Kuta (Antaranews Bali) - The nation`s flag carrier Garuda Indonesia will expand its international flight service by increasing flight frequency between Bali and India from twice to four times a week.
"This is all because of growing number of Indian tourists wanting to visit Bali," Chief Executive of the airline Pahala N Mansury said upon arrival at the Ngurah Rai international airport here on Tuesday with a Garuda aircraft in its first flight from Mumbai to Denpasar.
Pahala said in the beginning Garuda will serve flight between Bali and Mumbai twice a week every Monday and Thursday with Airbus 330 , which has a capacity of 222 passengers.
In June , the airline will serve the route three times a week and the frequency will be increased to four times a week before the end of this year, he said.
New Delhi, the capital city of India is another potential city of destination in that country, he said.
The number of Indian tourists to Bali grew strongly by 29 percent to 485,000 in 2017.
Tourism Minister Arief Yahya, who also was on board the Garuda aircraft in the fight from Mumbai, said he hoped Garuda will also serve flights to other cities in India such as to Agra where the Indian tourist icon Taj Mahal is located that the target of attracting 700,000 Indian tourists to Indonesia could be reached this year.
Garuda recorded a load factor of 82 percent, carrying 192 passengers in its first flight from Mumbai to Denpasar.
"This is a fairly good record for a first flight, Pahala said upon arrival of a Garuda aircraft at the Ngurah Rai airport on Tuesday.
He said Garuda is expected to maintain the load factor of more than 75 percent especially as Indian tourists do not need visa to enter the country.
Last year, Indian tourist arrivals were second only to those from China in the growth rate among foreign tourist arrivals recorded by Bali.
India was the fourth largest after China, Australia and Japan in number of tourists visiting Bali in 2017. (WDY)
