Australian tourists heading to Bali on-board a budget airline will be forced to land at a new airport several hours from popular holiday hot spots on the island.
The new airport, which will begin construction in early 2020, will be built at the opposite end of the current one in Denpasar and will cater for passengers who use budget airline carriers.
According to Nine, the new airport — which will be several hours from popular resort locations of Kuta and Seminyak — will provide relief at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar, which is struggling with the amount of daily flight arrivals.
Tourists travelling on low-cost airlines will now be landing further away from holiday hot spots like Kuta and Seminyak.
Source:istock
Unable to build more runways, Indonesian Transport Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said the new airport location would open up tourism in the north that fails to receive much attention.
According to reports, the new northern airport — which will open in 2022 — will receive around 70 per cent of flights from Australia, with Jetstar carrying close to one million travellers between Australia and Indonesia last year.
Jetstar will be impacted by the new airport, which will accommodate low-budget carriers going to the north of Bali instead of the south.
Source:Supplied
“Means convenience of the airport in the south, make it better … in the north is service limitation,” Mr Sumadi told
9 News in response to the new airport location.
A Jetstar spokesperson told news.com.au the current Denpasar airport was popular with passengers.
“Our services into Denpasar are very popular, with customers loving the convenience the airport provides to hotels, beaches and restaurants, but we are open to understanding more about the Indonesian Government’s second airport proposal,” the spokesperson said.
Ross Taylor from the Perth-based Indonesia Institute said the new airport would have an impact on the hundreds of thousands of travellers who venture to Bali on holiday each year.
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“The Australian dollar spent in Bali is critically important to the Balinese economy, and the Governor is very aware of that, and the last thing he would want to do is upset the thousands and thousands of Australians who are flying themselves with a two-and-a-half hour drive to get to their hotel,” he said.