TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian flag carrier Garuda Indonesia announced the plan to add flight frequencies connecting Jakarta - Bali in a round trip flight as the resort island is currently seeing growth in domestic tourist traffic.

Garuda President Director Irfan Setiaputra on Wednesday said additional flights will be increased proportionally to the amount of demand. “We will add it to meet available demands,” he said October 6.

Based on online travel agent websites, the flag carrier has three scheduled flights from Jakarta to Bali with an average booking fee of Rp1.7 million with flight schedules available at 07:05, 09:25, and 14:30 Jakarta time.

Meanwhile, there are three scheduled flights from Bali to Jakarta from noon until the evening with an average booking fee of Rp1.6 million.

Garuda’s announcement came after SOEs Minister Erick Thohir instructed Garuda and Citilink to add flights to Bali and support the tourism of the Dewata Island, which is currently growing following loosened Covid-19 restrictions.

He added that Garuda Indonesia is mulling to add flight frequencies scheduled at the weekends. Apart from Bali, Setiaputra said his company may add flights connecting Jakarta to other major cities such as Yogyakarta and Surabaya.

Read: Erick Thohir to Ask Garuda, Citilink to Increase Flights to Bali

FRANCISCA CHRISTY ROSANA