On Saturday, 20th January 2024, Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali officially announced the acceptance of a new direct flight route to China. This route, operated by Juneyao Airlines, will connect Pudong and Denpasar, Indonesia, aiming to boost foreign tourist visits to Bali in 2024.
Despite a one-year delay, Juneyao Airlines which is recognized as a premium airline in China, is anticipated to attract diverse groups of tourists for both leisure and business purposes.
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The first attempts at the new direct flight route by Juneyao Airlines took place on 1st January 2024. It departed from Pudong (PVG) and landed in Denpasar (DPS) at 3:35 PM local time, carrying 153 passengers. The return flight to China departed at 5:20 PM local time with 119 passengers.
Juneyao Airlines currently operates one flight to Bali and back to China. In comparison to the pandemic-affected year of 2021, the influx of tourists from China has shown a notable increase in 2023.
Throughout the year, 265,805 Chinese tourists visited Bali, constituting around 5% of the total foreign tourist arrivals in 2023. The optimistic outlook is set on Bali welcoming over 1 million tourists in 2024, aiming to surpass the levels observed in 2018.
Currently, I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali caters to 21 domestic routes operated by 11 airlines. Furthermore, on the international front, Juneyao Airlines brings the total to 38 airlines serving 36 international routes at the airport.
Before the inclusion of Juneyao Airlines, Ngurah Rai Airport had already welcomed various Chinese carriers such as Xiamen Airlines, China Southern Airlines, and China Eastern Airlines, connecting Bali to Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Xiamen, and Shanghai.
