National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia is set to launch chartered flights to five cities in China starting this month.

The general manager of Garuda Indonesia's Denpasar branch, Micky Irfandi, said the service would cover the Denpasar-Chengdu, Denpasar-Shenzhen, Denpasar-Kunming, Denpasar-Chongqing and Denpasar-Xiamen routes and use the Airbus A330 with 360 seating capacity.

"We are currently waiting for the license and other administrative documents, as well as available slots from China. The charter flights will fly three times a week," Micky told tempo.co on Wednesday.

(Read also: Garuda Indonesia named Most Improved Airline)

The service aims to cater to the demands of the aforementioned Chinese cities, as well as the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday. It will also serve as a trial for the airline before offering regular flight services. "We need to conduct an evaluation before launching the regular flight service. Garuda Indonesia's regular flight currently only flies to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong," said Micky.

According to the Bali Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the number of Chinese tourists visiting Bali between January and November last year reached 907,028, an increase by 20.22 percent compared to the previous year.

Among the 4.49 million tourists visiting Bali, Chinese citizens ranked second, right behind Australian tourists. (jes/kes)

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