Closure during Nyepi: Ngurah Rai Airport Ready to Resume Full Operations and Serve Surge in Lebaran Passengers
Bali’s I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport is ensuring operational readiness to manage two significant periods: Nyepi Day and the Lebaran 1447 H holiday break. Flight schedules and transport arrangements are being coordinated systematically to prevent passengers from being stranded at the airport during Nyepi preparations or the Lebaran travel surge.
The last flight is scheduled to land before the airport’s total closure on Nyepi Day, falling on 19 March 2026 at 06:00 WITA. After this time, all flight operations will be halted temporarily as part of the observance of Bali’s Nyepi tradition.
Although the airport will be closed during Nyepi, management ensures normal operations will resume afterwards to support tourist mobility, particularly as the Lebaran period approaches and is expected to trigger a surge in passenger numbers.
To anticipate passenger transport requirements before and after the airport closure, management has ensured that ground transport remains safe and adequate.
“During Nyepi preparations, we ensure transport remains available for service users. We cannot allow passengers to be stranded at the airport due to lack of transport,” explained General Manager of I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport Nugroho Jati on Wednesday (11 March).
As part of service preparations, approximately 800 transport vehicles have been organised to serve passengers during the operational period before and after Nyepi Day.
Based on recent data, I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport records an average traffic of around 65,000 passengers daily. Unlike most other airports that operate year-round, Bali’s airport has one day without flight activity during Nyepi.
“Whilst other locations have 365 operational days per year, Bali has only 364 days because the airport completely stops one day during Nyepi,” he noted.
In addition to operational arrangements during Nyepi, airport management has also prepared measures to handle the passenger surge during the Lebaran holiday period. Several airlines have reportedly requested additional flights to accommodate increased travel demand.
In total, approximately 265 extra flights have been requested by airlines to serve major domestic routes including Jakarta (Soekarno-Hatta), Surabaya, Labuan Bajo, and Balikpapan.
These additional flights are operated by several airlines, including Lion Group, Pelita Air, Indonesia AirAsia, and others.
Based on national flight trends, the Jakarta (Soekarno-Hatta)-Denpasar route remains one of the busiest flight paths in Indonesia. Additionally, international routes from Singapore and Australia continue to represent the main source of tourists visiting Bali.
The surge in passenger traffic is expected to occur during 13 to 27 March. This period coincides with several milestones simultaneously: Nyepi Day, the Lebaran holiday, and school holidays.
These conditions are projected to drive an increase in tourist flows to Bali. Overall, flight traffic is forecast to grow approximately 1% for domestic flights and 3% for international flights.
This growth demonstrates a positive trend in Bali’s tourism sector, which remains a favourite destination for both domestic and foreign tourists.