JAKARTA – Bali’s I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport under the management of Angkasa Pura I Airports is ready to welcome foreign tourists in line with the plan to open doors for international flights to Bali starting on 14 October 2021, according to the statement of the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Menkomarinves), Luhut Binsar Panjaitan at a virtual press conference on Monday 4 October 2021.
The government has decided to reopen international doors to Bali through I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport starting on 14 October 2021, where foreign tourists are only permitted to visit Bali from five countries, including South Korea, China, Japan, United Arab Emirates, and New Zealand.
The readiness of I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport is related to supporting the fulfillment of travel requirements for foreign tourist arrivals regulated by the Government, including quarantine for a minimum of eight days, proof of quarantine hotel reservation, and a negative Covid-19 test results.
"Angkasa Pura Airports is enthusiastic about welcoming the Government’s decision concerning the reopening of international flights for foreign tourists to Bali. We manifested the enthusiasm through readiness for I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport in the implementation of travel requirements for foreign tourists. We hope the trial reopening of Bali for foreign tourists can run smoothly and can actually show the readiness of all tourism stakeholders in Bali, so that the opening of international doors to Bali can be broader with the addition of number of other countries. The opening of Bali’s doors for foreign tourists is especially important for Bali tourism stakeholders and for Balinese people in general, given that the Balinese economy relies heavily on the tourism sector,” said President Director of Angkasa Pura Airports, Faik Fahmi.
The readiness of I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali includes passenger journey from disembarking airplane to passenger pick-up by car to the quarantine hotel. The arrival process of foreign tourists at I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport includes:
- Preflight: before flying to Bali, foreign tourists must present a proof of full vaccination, have negative PCR test result valid for 3x24 hours, fill out a health alert card (HAC), have quarantine hotel booking document, fill out e-PCR, confirm immigration documents, fill out electronic customs declaration (e-CD).
- Thermo Scanner: after landing, foreign tourists head to the arrival terminal and have their body temperature checked. Foreign tourists whose body temperature is 38 degrees Celsius or lower may continue to the next process, while tourists whose body temperature is above 38 degrees Celsius are directed to an observation room for further examination. If the observation result shows that they are healthy, then tourists will continue to the next process. If the observation result shows that they are not healthy, then the tourist will be referred to the hospital.
- Registration counter: the tourists will be served by Covid-19 Task Force officers at the tourist registration counter, where foreign tourists input data and officers control data and print barcodes. There are 10 counters with a registration process time of about 10 minutes per tourist.
- Inspection of health and quarantine hotel documents: the Port Health Office (KKP) carries out inspection of the two documents and barcode tapping with processing time at the KKP counter of about 1 minute.
- RT-PCR SWAB: foreign tourists RT-PCR sampling where 20 RT-PCR test booths are installed with a sampling process time of about 1.5 minutes.
- Immigration: inspection of tourist immigration document by immigration officers with a total of 16 counters and a processing time of about 1 minute.
- Baggage claim: tourist baggage claim process on the conveyor belt where 7 conveyor belt units are available with a processing time of 1 minute.
- Customs clearance: scanning electronic customs declaration barcode with a processing time of 0.16 minutes.
- Holding area: foreign tourists wait for RT-PCR test result and the quarantine hotel staff carries out registration with a processing time of 60 minutes.
- Provincial Covid-19 Task Force Desk: Tourists tap on barcodes and the Provincial Covid-19 Task Force carries out access control.
- Pick up zone: tourists head to the pick up area, then head to the quarantine hotel.
The estimated time required for a tourist or passenger to go through the international arrival process at I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport, including waiting for the RT-PCR test result, is 72 minutes or 1 hour 12 minutes. In addition, I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport added a waiting area at Gate 4 to Gate 6 and expanded the arrival corridor.
Regarding the readiness of RT-PCR test service at I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport, Angkasa Pura Airports collaborated with Bali Jimbaran Hospital with 2 units of mobile lab facilities, 20 RT-PCR booths, 10 RT-PCR machines with a capacity of 320 tests per hour and a total capacity of 3,840 tests per day.
“Angkasa Pura I Airports is always committed to implementing health protocols and supporting the enforcement of air travel requirements, especially for foreign tourists arriving at I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport. It is hoped that the gradual reopening of Bali for foreign tourists can run smoothly and can show the readiness of Bali tourism stakeholders in welcoming the arrival of foreign tourists on a larger scale, which in turn leads to Bali’s economic recovery,” said Faik Fahmi.
