State airport operator Angkasa Pura I (AP I), which
manages airports in the eastern part of the country, including Ngurah Rai
International Airport in Bali, expects a new visa exemption policy for 30
countries to cause a slight increase in foreign arrivals this year.
“We previously forecast an increase of 11 percent in passenger arrivals this year from around 11 million recorded at all of our airports last year. With the new policy, we will see an at least 12 percent increase,” AP I corporate secretary Farid Indra Nugraha told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
“We previously forecast an increase of 11 percent in passenger arrivals this year from around 11 million recorded at all of our airports last year. With the new policy, we will see an at least 12 percent increase,” AP I corporate secretary Farid Indra Nugraha told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the number of foreign tourist arrivals at Ngurah Rai airport reached 3.7 million last year, with 271,193 at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya, East Java.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo signed a presidential regulation on visa exemptions last week, despite an immigration law stipulating that visa exemptions may only be made on a reciprocal basis.
The regulation stipulates that only immigration units located at five airports and four seaports are allowed to issue visa exemptions. The airports are Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, Ngurah Rai, Kualanamu International Airport in Medan, North Sumatra, Hang Nadim International Airport in Batam, Riau Islands, and Juanda.
