Ngurah Rai Airport as the Face of Bali and Indonesia in the Eyes of the World
BADUNG – I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport serves as the main gateway for both domestic and international tourists visiting Bali. As the island’s primary hub, the airport handles millions of passengers each year and plays a vital role in supporting Bali’s economy.
To maintain its reputation and enhance its global competitiveness, services at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport must continue to improve—delivering world-class standards that are efficient, accurate, safe, clean, and reliable.
In pursuit of this goal, Bali Governor Wayan Koster chaired an Evaluation Meeting on Service Improvements at the International Terminal on Monday (22/9/2025). The meeting followed up on a previous session held on Saturday (23/8/2025), where Governor Koster highlighted several issues requiring urgent attention, including long queues at immigration, weak oversight of foreign nationals, baggage claim delays of up to 1–1.5 hours, slow and unclean conveyor belts, and inadequate information services.
During the meeting, Governor Koster listened to progress reports from various airport stakeholders:
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Cecep Kurniawan, Head of the Regional Airport Authority (Otban) Region IV, reported that Angkasa Pura Indonesia has begun expanding terminal corridors and constructing a connecting gate with cultural touches and a green-airport concept. Improvements include upgrading restrooms, repairing facilities, adding check-in counters, and providing Tourist Levy (PWA) counters in strategic locations.
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Sunaryo, Head of Ngurah Rai Customs Office, explained efforts to streamline customs services, including dedicated lanes for passengers without completed forms (to be launched in November 2025), optimized staffing for electronic customs declaration queues, and expanded service areas.
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Winarko, Head of Class I Special Immigration Office TPI Ngurah Rai, said immigration has deployed officers to break up queues during peak hours, maximizing the use of autogates, which can process passengers in under one minute.
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JAS Airport Services, as a ground-handling provider, has added more staff to improve baggage handling efficiency and reduce waiting times.
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Gapura Angkasa followed up by assigning additional dedicated porters for the first 10 minutes after aircraft arrival, applying double-line loading/unloading during peak hours, and implementing early baggage separation with strict time targets (first bag ≤ 15 minutes, last bag ≤ 30 minutes).
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Ahmad Syaugi Shahab, General Manager of Angkasa Pura Indonesia Ngurah Rai, reported ongoing terminal optimization projects to support rising passenger traffic, including plans to install solar panels on the fourth-floor roof as part of a broader green-airport initiative.
The management also confirmed stricter enforcement against aggressive marketing by unauthorized transport agents and highlighted efforts to support Bali’s Tourist Levy program, including banners, bilingual announcements, and upcoming Mandarin-language broadcasts for Chinese visitors.
Governor Koster expressed his appreciation for the progress made, underscoring that the airport reflects not only Bali but Indonesia as a whole.
“Ngurah Rai Airport is the face of Bali and the face of Indonesia. That is why we want it to provide excellent services and world-class facilities. Our aim is to build quality tourism, and for that, the tourists who come to Bali must also be quality tourists. This is a shared responsibility for all of us,” said Governor Koster.
After the meeting, Governor Koster and his delegation inspected several services at the airport’s international arrival terminal.***
