Another barrier to flying to Bali has fallen by the wayside, with the Indonesian Government dropping its hotel quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated travelers from 23 countries. That's encouraging news for Bali locals who rely on the millions of tourists who usually flock to the island and the airlines that fly them in.

Travelers from 23 countries now eligible for visas on arrival in Bali

Bali regulars will be familiar with the traditional visa on arrival regime at Denpasar's Ngurah Rai International Airport. Once again, fully vaccinated tourists from Australia, the US, Netherlands, Brunei, Philippines, the UK, Italy, Japan, Germany, Cambodia, Canada, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, France, Qatar, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam are eligible for visas on arrival.

For the time being, everyone else still needs to obtain a visa before departure and do three days quarantine in one of Bali's designated quarantine resorts where the accommodation is reportedly fine, but some lurid stories of price gouging are emerging. It is expected the visa on arrival program will get extended to travelers from other countries soon.

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Scoot also uses its Airbus A321neos for flight services to Australia. Photo: Airbus

More international airlines returning to Bali

Meanwhile, on the back of Bali reopening to tourists, airlines are slowly starting to return to Denpasar Airport. Singapore Airlines set the pace early with its daily Boeing 787-10 flights between Singapore and Denpasar. Low-cost subsidiary Scoot Tigerair joined the fray late last week with its first Airbus A320 service to Denpasar since 2020. According to Bali Discovery, the inbound Scoot flight on Friday carried 42 passengers, while the return flight to Singapore carried 11 passengers.

If you thought those passenger numbers underwhelming, Jetstar Asia also recommenced its regular run between Singapore and Denpasar on Friday. The A320-200 flew into Denpasar with eight passengers and returned with six passengers.

Embattled Garuda Indonesia also made a welcome return on the Sydney - Denpasar run on Friday. There were 61 passengers, including 31 Australians onboard the Airbus A330-300 flight. Garuda is now back on the Sydney - Denpasar route with one flight a week.

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Garuda Indonesia resumed flying on the Sydney - Denpasar sector last week. Photo: Garuda Indonesia

Jetstar & Qantas resuming Denpasar flights this month

Also on the radar this month are Jetstar flights and Qantas resuming from Australia - Bali's biggest inbound market. Jetstar has flights resuming from Sydney and Melbourne in mid-March, while Qantas plans flights restarting between Sydney and Denpasar to coincide with the start of the IATA summer season in late March. The dropping of quarantine requirements for Australian tourists makes these flights much more likely to happen.

Usually, over 40 airlines serve Denpasar Airport, with the bulk of those airlines operating international services into DPS. Flights came in normally from far and wide, including North Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Australia. Until those airlines start returning in significant numbers, Indonesian domestic travelers constitute the bulk of traffic through Ngurah Rai International Airport. But most people expect that to start changing soon.

"We expect the initial uptake of flights to Bali will be a little slow as people are still hesitant," Ross Taylor of The Indonesia Institute told The Australian Financial Review. "But as the Australian winter approaches, new flights are introduced, and Bali enters its dry season, the attraction of balmy nights sitting on the beach with a Bintang will prove too much. By July, we expect a strong rebound."