Pelita Air, VietJet take to the skies at I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport
Jakarta, April 28, 2022 - I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport welcomed on Thursday, April 28, two new airlines as Pelita Air launched its inaugural flight to Bali from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta, while Vietnam’s VietJet air reopened the route connecting Ho Chi Minh City to Bali.
The first ever Pelita Air’s Jakarta-Bali trip, with a flight number 6D102, carried 100 passengers from the Indonesian capital and landed in I Gusti Ngurah Rai airport at 12.11 a.m. WITA (Central Indonesian Time). Upon landing, the Airbus A320 was warmly welcomed with a water salute ceremony from a firefighting and rescue team. The aircraft then took off to Jakarta later in the day to carry 89 passengers with a flight number 6D101.
Meanwhile, the arrival of VietJet Air means the airport has now served a total of 13 regular international routes. The Thursday’s flight number VJ893 from Ho Chi Minh City touched down in Bali at 13.38 WITA while carrying 201 passengers. Likewise, the arrival was also greeted with a water salute ceremony.
At 14.33 WITA, the VN-A644 registered aircraft took off with flight number VJ894 to serve a returning flight to Ho Chi Minh City carrying 72 passengers.
President Director of Angkasa Pura Airports Faik Fahmi said that he is thrilled with the additions of the new airlines.
“We would like to warmly welcome Pelita Air to Bali, which adds another option for passengers wishing to travel to Bali from Jakarta and vice versa. We are honored to witness the opening of this route, where Bali becomes one of the first regular flights of Pelita Air,” he said.
“We would also like to extend our warmest welcome to VietJet for reactivating the Bali-Vietnam route. Previously, the airlines had served Ho Chi Minh City-Bali route since May 2019 until the beginning of the pandemic. The reactivation has proven once again that Bali remains one of the most desired destinations for international travelers. We are confident that it will support international passengers growth, while positively contributing to Bali’s economy,” he added.
According to the latest schedule, Pelita Air will serve Jakarta-Bali flight on a daily basis. It has also become the 10th airline that serves a domestic route to I Gusti Ngurah Rai – the main air gateway to Bali – which welcomes an average of 140 aircraft movements and 8,400 passengers per day.
“We hope that the arrival of Pelita Air can provide a breathe of fresh air to aviation and tourism sector in Bali while giving passengers more option to reach their favorite destinations across Indonesia. We are looking forward to seeing new route openings from Pelita Air in our other managed airports,” Faik Fahmi said.
On the other hand, the presence of VietJet Air means that I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport is now serving 10 regular international flight, namely Singapore, Melbourne, Sydney, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Doha, Istanbul, Perth, Bangkok, and Ho Chi Minh City. VietJet Air has also officially become the 13th airline to connect Bali to other cities worldwide after Garuda Indonesia, Singapore Airlines, Jetstar Asia, KLM Royal Dutch, Scoot, Malaysia Airlines, Jetstar Airways, Qatar Airways, AirAsia, Turkish Airlines, Thai AirAsia, and Qantas.
As of Thursday, April 28, 859 aircraft movements and 133,083 passengers have been served in I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport since reactivating regular international flights on February 3. Of the number, 79,326 passengers and 435 aircrafts landed in Bali while 53,757 and 424 aircraft departed from the island.
