Jakarta. Flag carrier Garuda Indonesia is adding more Bali-bound flights from cities in South Korea and Australia as the province tries to attract millions of international tourists this year.

This includes cities like Sydney, Melbourne, and Seoul. Starting in July, people can go on round trips on these routes every day. Denpasar-Sydney, Denpasar-Melbourne, and Denpasar-Seoul now all serve daily flights. Garuda Indonesia previously only flew in these routes four to five times a week. They will all use the wide-body Airbus 330-300.

Garuda Indonesia’s president director Irfan Setiaputra said that Bali was popular among Australian and South Korean tourists, hence the airline decided to have more flights on these routes.

“And we hope we can help the government achieve its goal of attracting 7 million foreign tourists throughout 2024,” Irfan said. 

Having more foreign tourists in Bali will also be a major boon to Garuda Indonesia's operational performance, according to Irfan.

Garuda Indonesia reported that it had carried 233,000 passengers in the first semester of 2024, up by 155 percent compared to the same period of the previous year which saw 91,000 passengers.

International flights from Denpasar also reached 1,347 flights in the first semester. This marks a 111 percent increase compared to 639 flights recorded in the first semester of 2023.