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.