DI
DENPASAR -Garuda Indonesia plans to add a new route, namely Denpasar-Mumbai in April to capture the magnitude of the potential tourists from India on vacation to the Island of the Gods as well as to Australia.
GM Garuda Bali Joseph Adrian Saul said the new route is planned to be inaugurated on 23 April by using Airbus type 330-200 aircraft.
The plan in the first month, Garuda Indonesia will serve the flight with 7 hours of travel time, twice weekly, ie Monday and Thursday. In the following month, the frequency of flights will be increased to three times a week to Monday, Thursday and Saturday.
“Indian tourists continue to increase, and experience from when the eruption of Mount Agung then they seemed cool and stable visit to Bali,” he said, Tuesday (20/3/2018).
Based on data from Angkasa Pura 1 Airport I Gusti Ngurah, the number of foreign tourists visiting India in February 2018 ranked third under China and Australia with a total number of visits as many as 25,254 people.
The number is the highest increase compared to tourist arrivals from other countries, which is 51.11% compared to February 2016, only 16,706 people.
Joseph revealed the new route will be offered in the event Garuda Indonesia Travel Fair or GATF on March 23-25 in Kuta at a lower price when compared to the 7-hour flight route to Japan.
He believes that this new route will attract tourists from India because they basically prefer direct flights over transit first.
Joseph said the opening of this new route also from seeing that the potential flight from Bali to India load factornya pretty good despite the transit.
In addition, the existence of the Denpasar-Mumbai route will have added value as it will be linked to other destinations in Australia. That way, Ngurah Rai Airport will become a hub for Indian tourists going to Australia or vice versa from Australia to India destination.
“We connect from India-Denpasar-Australia. Even if you do not connect the flight, we will give one day tour in Bali. So the people of Australia or India when the flight does not conect they can tour one day to Canggu or seightseing new night depart, “he explained.
Marketing Manager of Garuda Indonesia Bali Joko Azuardi added that the existence of this new route is expected to increase the airline’s turnover in Bali Island by 30%. The optimism is because in terms of culture, Indian tourists prefer direct flights and do not like if the transit first.
In addition, this new route will be one of Garuda Indonesia’s mainstays compared to routes to cities in China. Admittedly, the contribution of direct route from Bali to China only gives a minimal contribution of only 1% of sales in Bali. Therefore, the opening of a route to one of the busiest cities in India can support the sale of airline floors on the Indonesian stock exchange.
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