Trips to the tropical island paradise of Bali will soon develop into easier for British travelers as Garuda Indonesia has launched its first nonstop flights from the UK.
According to Telegraphthe direct service launched on January 22, replacing the prevailing Garuda route from Heathrow to Jakarta. Outbound flights will depart London at 9.55pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, arriving in Bali Denpasar at 9.15pm the next day.
Garuda’s latest direct route will mean a complete Boeing 777 flight time of 15 hours and 35 minutes, with flights available from £519 a method.
With the opening of the route, Garuda becomes the primary airline to operate a direct flight from London to Bali, a serious destination for foreign tourists, Garuda says, adding that it’s a remake of the Jakarta-London-Jakarta route.
Garuda president director Ari Askhara said the opening of the route can also be aimed toward increasing flight occupancy.
“This is an element of our commitment to strengthen international flight networks, specifically by providing access to connections directly from major airport hubs in Indonesia, from Jakarta and Bali to London Heathrow Airport (LHR),” Ari said in an announcement quoted by Jakarta Post Office.
However, the route only goes directly on the outgoing section. On the return journey, those traveling to London may have to travel via Jakarta. This also implies that passengers from London with a final destination in Jakarta may have to transfer to Bali as an alternative.
The island’s attractions – beaches, temples, rice fields and volcanoes – are famous. In 2018, Indonesia welcomed greater than 15 million foreign tourists – up from about 2.2 million in 1990. About 1 in 3 of them went to Bali.
Reported by Kompas.com, statistics show that the UK was the fourth largest source of tourist arrivals after China, Australia and India
