Bali airports reopens after 24-hour closure for Nyepi

AIRPORT - JAKARTA. I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport in Badung, Bali, reopened on Friday at 6 a.m., after a 24-hour closure for Nyepi (Day of Silence). 

"The airport has been operating normally. All facilities and human resources are 100 percent ready," Arie Ahsanurrohim, head of PT Angkasa Pura I's communications and legal division for Ngurah Rai, told The Jakarta Post on Friday. 

The airport suspended all international and domestic flights for 24 hours on Thursday for Nyepi, starting at 6 a.m. Central Indonesia Time (WITA).

Arie said no emergency landing nor medical evacuations took place on Nyepi, which marks the beginning of a new Hindu year according to the Saka calendar.

The closure affected 468 flights, comprising 261 domestic flights and 207 international flights. 

Once the airport reopened, Wings Air flight number IW 1851 from Lombok Airport in West Musa Tenggara was the first aircraft to land in Bali in 24 hours. Meanwhile, the first domestic flight taking off from the airport was Citilink flight QG 663 to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten.

Garuda Indonesia flight GA 897 from Guangzhou, China, was the first international flight to land on Friday. Meanwhile, the first international flight that took off from Bali airport was Cebu Pacific Air 5J-280 to Manila.