Passengers at I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport Surge 12.9% on Third Day of Eid Transport Command Post

Passenger activity at I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali has shown significant increases during the first three days of operation of the 2026 Eid Transport Command Post. This growth is reflected in the number of passengers served since the command post officially commenced operations.

“Passenger services during the three-day service period of the 2026 Eid Transport Command Post reached 188,655 passengers, or an increase of 12.9% compared to 2025,” said Communication & Legal Division Head of I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport Gede Eka Sandi Asmadi.

Eka Sandi, speaking in Denpasar on Monday (16 March), explained that during the same period last year, the number of passengers was recorded at 167,078 people. Consequently, the growth at the beginning of this year’s command post period has even exceeded the previous projection, which was estimated to rise by only around 1 per cent.

During the first three days, the airport also handled 17 additional flights. The breakdown shows the Jakarta (CGK) route recorded 12 flight movements, while the Surabaya (SUB) route recorded five movements.

Looking more closely at the period of 13-15 March 2026, the number of domestic passengers at I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport reached 78,388 people. Of this total, the majority were passengers departing Bali, numbering 42,250 people.

Meanwhile, for the international route, 110,267 passengers were recorded. This figure comprises 51,937 passengers arriving in Bali and 58,330 passengers departing from Bali to various foreign destinations.

Based on daily average calculations, I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport served approximately 62,885 passengers per day. This figure is higher compared to the 2025 Eid exodus period, which recorded an average of 60,436 passengers per day.

From an operational standpoint, during the first three days of the command post, 1,192 aircraft movements were recorded. This number increased by approximately 12% compared to the same period in 2025, which reached 1,064 movements.

Eka Sandi detailed that domestic flights so far have recorded 581 aircraft movements, comprising 291 arrival flights and 290 departures.

Meanwhile, international flights reached 611 movements, including 305 arrivals and 306 departures. Consequently, the average aircraft movement at the airport reached approximately 397 per day.

According to Eka Sandi, since the beginning of the 2026 Eid Transport Command Post, the busiest domestic route from I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport is Jakarta (CGK) with 232 movements. The next position is held by the Surabaya (SUB) route with 81 movements, and Lombok (LOP) with 60 movements.

For international routes, the busiest flights were recorded to Singapore (SIN) with 95 movements, followed by Kuala Lumpur (KUL) with 84 movements, and Perth (PER) with 66 movements.

For information, the Eid Transport Command Post at I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport is scheduled to operate for 18 days, from 13 to 30 March 2026. This command post was prepared to anticipate the surge in passengers during the exodus period ahead of Eid al-Fitr 2026.