Bali Governor evaluates service improvements at Ngurah Rai Airport
Denpasar (ANTARA) - Bali Governor Wayan Koster chaired a Coordination Meeting on Improving the Quality of Services at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport to evaluate the effectiveness of improvements to public facilities and passenger arrival flows.
The coordination meeting was attended by all service-providing agencies at I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport. This meeting is a continuation of previous coordination meetings held on 23 August and 28 December 2025, Koster said in a statement in Denpasar on Saturday.
The Governor explained that this series of evaluations began with numerous reports and direct complaints from passengers in mid-2025. At that time, passengers complained about baggage waiting times exceeding one hour, long immigration queues, and slow customs inspection processes.
Following up on these issues, the Bali Provincial Government immediately instructed a complete overhaul of the service system. The directives included reducing baggage waiting times to 30-45 minutes, accelerating immigration and customs lanes, and renewing basic infrastructure such as replacing old conveyor belts.
In addition, Governor Koster requested the airport management to replace outdated toilet facilities, provide seats for passengers waiting for baggage, update furniture in the customs area, and optimise communication systems, cleanliness, and lighting quality.
As a representative of the central government in the region, he assigned all service-providing agencies to develop models and steps that must be implemented to improve all service systems and to report at the next coordination meeting.
In the follow-up coordination meeting at the end of December 2025, all relevant agencies reported concrete steps for system improvements that had been designed. Koster immediately approved the proposals with the condition that they be implemented consistently and with full responsibility.
Based on the latest report on Friday (15/8), Governor Koster found significant progress across various areas. Baggage waiting times for medium and small aircraft have now been reduced to 13 to 30 minutes, while for wide-body aircraft with dense loads it has decreased to 18 to 40 minutes, he said.
Beyond baggage collection, immigration services were also reported to be much faster thanks to the operation of Auto Gate machines and the use of electronic passports, although exceptions still apply for certain countries using ordinary passports such as India.
In terms of physical facilities, all airport areas are now considered much cleaner, with ongoing programmes including the replacement of old toilets, addition of furniture units, and additional service personnel.
For these achievements, Koster expressed appreciation while emphasising that I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport plays a vital and strategic role as the main gateway and showcase of Indonesia in the eyes of the international community.
He noted that in 2025 the airport served up to 7.05 million foreign tourists, or approximately 45.8 percent of the total 15.39 million foreign tourists to Indonesia, as well as more than 9 million domestic tourists, so service standards must be strictly maintained.
The existence of the airport and the quality of its services greatly determine the quality and sustainability of Bali tourism, which not only drives the local economy but also provides substantial foreign exchange for the country, he said.
Although improvements have been made, the Bali Provincial Government will continue to coordinate regularly to ensure the airport’s operational standards remain world-class and are enhanced if necessary.