Garuda adds weekly Bali-Australia flight

Garuda adds weekly Bali-Australia flight

Associated Press, Sydney

Despite calls for Australians to boycott Bali, Indonesian flag
carrier Garuda Indonesia on Wednesday announced an extra weekly
flight between Australia and the popular tourist island to cope
with increasing demand.

The return flight from Sydney to Denpasar, Bali, with a stop
at Brisbane, brings the weekly total to five and increases weekly
seats by 146 to 1,318.

This is despite a long-standing warning by the Australian
government to avoid travel to Indonesia because of possible
terrorist threats. Australians accounted for 88 of the 202 killed
when terrorists bombed Bali night spots in 2002.

More recently, public calls have been made for a tourist
boycott of Bali to protest 27-year-old Australian Schapelle
Corby's 20-year prison sentence last month for smuggling
marijuana into Denpasar airport.

Nearly 80,000 Australians visited Bali during the first four
months of the year, with 20,960 arriving in April, according to
Denpasar airport.

Figures for May, the month in which many Australians were
outraged by Corby's conviction and sentence, were expected to
continue to rise, and Garuda said 2005 promised to be a record
year.

"Consistently strong bookings demonstrate the continued
affection that Australians have for Bali," Garuda general manager
Suranto Yitnopawiro said on Wednesday.