DENPASAR - Survey of Airport Service Quality (ASQ) conducted by the Airport Council International (ACI) in the first quarter of 2015 (January to March 2015) put the international airport Ngurah Rai Bali as the airport with the best service level number three in the world in the category of airports with 15 to 25 million passengers per year.
"In the previous survey in the fourth quarter of 2014, I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport was ranked 7th in the world, ranking Juanda Airport in Surabaya also improved, from that previously existed in the 10th position, there is now ranked 7th in the world by ACI assessment," said President Director of PT Angkasa Pura I (Persero) Tommy Soetomo.
In the category of airports with 15 to 25 million passengers per year, ACI assessed at 30 airports in the world. Ranked both airports under the management of Angkasa Pura Airports are located on top of Kansai Airport in Japan, New Zealand Auckland Airport, San Diego Airport in the US, the Helsinki-Vantaa Airport in Finland, as well as Brisbane Airport in Australia. The top rank I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport is Gimpo Airport in Seoul, South Korea, which managed to become the best airport in the ASQ survey this time, sliding the Wuhan Tianhe Airport, China which had to settle for second place.
Meanwhile, in the category of airports with passenger numbers 5 till 15 million passengers per year, there are three airports in Indonesia were surveyed. The result, of the 77 airports in the world, Sultan Aji Muhammad Sulaiman Sepinggan is ranked 24th, Sultan Hasanuddin Airport in Makassar in the 36th position, and Kualanamu Medan ranked 72nd.
Direct flights Dubai-Denpasar
Improved services performed at Ngurah Rai Airport are also intended to support the existence of Bali as a popular tourism destination in the world. With the increasing number of airlines landed at Ngurah Rai Airport, the automatic will also increase the number of tourists coming to the island. Most recently, the entry of global airline, Emirates, which opened the direct flight route from Dubai to Denpasar, began June 3, 2015 last.
"On May 30, 2015, the airline has conducted an audit related to security at Ngurah Rai Airport in the framework of direct flights Dubai-Denpasar and vice versa. As a result, the airport is considered clear and there was no safety record that should be corrected. Thus, on June 3, 2015 has conducted the inaugural flight direct flight Emirates Dubai-Denpasar route," said General Manager I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport Bali Trikora Harjo.
Emirates inaugural flight route Dubai-Denpasar flight number EK398 arrived at Ngurah Rai airport Ngurah Rai at 21:25 pm, carrying 423 passengers. Furthermore, the aircraft departed towards Dubai at 23:40 pm on the same day as the flight number EK399 and carrying 315 passengers.
Service-Denpasar Emirates Dubai has scheduled one daily flight, operated using Boeing 777-300ER fleet with a capacity of 426 seats divided in economy and business class flights.
"The opening of direct Dubai-Denpasar route this will certainly contribute to improve the economy and tourism in Bali. It could also be an attempt to open a non-conventional tourist flow coming from the Middle East, in addition to tourists from Europe and Asia were so far the most widely visit to Bali" added Trikora. [Arif Haryanto]
