Bali’s Ngurah Rai Airport back to business after shutdown for Nyepi

A Balinese ogoh-ogoh statue on display at Ngurah Rai International Airport. Photo: Coconuts Bali
A Balinese ogoh-ogoh statue on display at Ngurah Rai International Airport. Photo: Coconuts Bali

Ngurah Rai International Airport opened right back up again on Wednesday morning after taking a break in operations for the Balinese holy day, Nyepi.

The airport was shut down for a 24-hour period to respect the Balinese ‘Day of Silence’ tradition, where people must stay inside, refrain from making sound and using lights, stop travel, and take a pause from work.

Airport spokesman Arie Ahsanurrohim said Ngurah Rai reopened at 6:01 am on Wednesday morning, without incident.

The first domestic flight departing from the airport was Garuda Indonesia GA 339 to Surabaya, while the first international flight was an AirAsia to Perth service, according to Antara Bali.

As for arrivals, the first domestic flight was a Nam Air plane from Yogyakarta and a Garuda flight from Pudong, China for international.

About 324 flights would have run if not for the Nyepi shutdown, about 123 of which would be domestic and 131 international, says Ahsanurrohim.

Although the airport was closed, airport security officers were still alert and emergency personnel were on standby, reports say.



Reader Interactions

Leave A Reply


BECOME A COCO+ MEMBER

Support local news and join a community of like-minded
“Coconauts” across Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

Join Now
Coconuts TV
Our latest and greatest original videos
Subscribe on