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No international flights scheduled as Bali reopens
Tourism-reliant Bali is scheduled to reopen on Thursday and though its Ngurah Rai international airport has carried out simulations preparing for the tourists to return, it is not expecting much to happen soon.
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A woman takes part in a simulation of Covid-19 health protocols at the international airport in Tuban on Indonesia's resort island of Bali on October 9, 2021, ahead of the island reopening to tourists on October 14. (AFP/Sonny Tumbelaka)
H
ours before Indonesia's top holiday destination Bali reopens to foreign tourists after 18 months of pandemic hiatus, the island is lacking one crucial ingredient: international flights.
Tourism-reliant Bali is scheduled to reopen on Thursday and though its Ngurah Rai international airport has carried out simulations preparing for the tourists to return, it is not expecting much to happen soon.
"So far there is no schedule," said Taufan Yudhistira, a spokesman for the airport.
Indonesia's tight immigration measures during the pandemic have devastated the island, with widespread closures of hotels, shops and businesses.
The government is keen to revive Bali's beleaguered tourism industry in response to a sharp fall in new coronavirus cases since July, when Indonesia was Asia's COVID-19 epicentre.
But it is not even clear who is allowed to visit.
A cabinet minister announced earlier this week that nationals from 18 countries were eligible, but did not specify which those were.
