Bali to close airport during Nyepi

KUTA, Bali: The island resort of Bali will close the Ngurah Rai International Airport for 25 hours when it commemorates Nyepi (the Hindu Day of Silence) on March 21.

"The airport will be closed starting 5 a.m. on Sunday (March 21) until 6 a.m. the following day," state airport management company PT Perum Angkasa Pura's manager at Ngurah Rai Airport, IGM Dhordy, said here on Thursday.

Bali has been closing the airport every Nyepi since 2000, but the airport management have continued to serve aircraft making stopovers, he said.

Starting this year, however, the airport would not allow aircraft to make stopovers, he added.

"But it does not mean that operations will totally stop. Air traffic control will continue to operate," he said.

Some 28 aircraft from both domestic and foreign airlines fly to Bali each day, he said.

He also said he would make sure that this information was conveyed to tourism operators, including travel bureaus and hotels. -- Antara