Bali Restarts Direct International Flights from All Countries
2022-02-08
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1Direct international flights to Indonesia's popular vacation island of Bali have restarted after a break of nearly two years.
2All arriving travelers who are fully vaccinated will be required to quarantine for five days in hotels or on boats offshore.
3Officials announced in October that Bali would welcome foreign travelers from 19 nations.
4But there had been no direct international flights to the island until last Thursday.
5The first plane to arrive was a Garuda Indonesia flight from Tokyo.
6Singapore Airlines said last week it would resume flights to Bali from Singapore starting on February 16.
7Indonesia reported 27,197 new COVID-19 infections and 38 deaths Thursday in the latest 24-hour period.
8The country has seen more than 4.4 million total cases since the pandemic began.
9The latest rise in virus cases, driven by the fast-spreading Omicron version, has mostly been centered in Indonesia's capital, Jakarta.
10But infections recently "increased significantly" in Java and Bali, said Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, the government minister leading COVID-19 efforts in those areas.
11Before the pandemic, Bali's airport was accepting more than 200 international flights with at least one million passengers per day.
12The island was closed to international flights after COVID-19 hit the world's fourth most populous country in 2020.
13Bali drew 6.2 million foreign visitors in 2019.
14Last year, the whole country recorded just 1.6 million foreign visitors, down 62 percent from 2020.
15Tourism is the main source of income in Bali, which is home to more than 4 million people.
16Bali's tourist areas were mostly empty 20 years ago after deadly terror attacks that targeted foreigners.
17But the island has worked to overcome that image.
18Local officials say the reopening of Bali to travelers from all countries is a start to help repair the island's economy.
19Indonesia's Tourism and Economy Minister, Sandiaga Uno, said the reopening will also serve as a "trial" as the government prepares to host G-20 events in Bali later this year.
20The G-20 is a grouping of the world's largest 20 economies.
21A G-20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors planned for mid-February was supposed to be held in Bali.
22But the meeting has been moved to Jakarta because of the latest rise in COVID-19 cases.
23I'm Jonathan Evans.
1Direct international flights to Indonesia's popular vacation island of Bali have restarted after a break of nearly two years. 2All arriving travelers who are fully vaccinated will be required to quarantine for five days in hotels or on boats offshore. 3Officials announced in October that Bali would welcome foreign travelers from 19 nations. But there had been no direct international flights to the island until last Thursday. The first plane to arrive was a Garuda Indonesia flight from Tokyo. 4Singapore Airlines said last week it would resume flights to Bali from Singapore starting on February 16. 5Indonesia reported 27,197 new COVID-19 infections and 38 deaths Thursday in the latest 24-hour period. The country has seen more than 4.4 million total cases since the pandemic began. 6The latest rise in virus cases, driven by the fast-spreading Omicron version, has mostly been centered in Indonesia's capital, Jakarta. But infections recently "increased significantly" in Java and Bali, said Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, the government minister leading COVID-19 efforts in those areas. 7Before the pandemic, Bali's airport was accepting more than 200 international flights with at least one million passengers per day. The island was closed to international flights after COVID-19 hit the world's fourth most populous country in 2020. 8Bali drew 6.2 million foreign visitors in 2019. Last year, the whole country recorded just 1.6 million foreign visitors, down 62 percent from 2020. 9Tourism is the main source of income in Bali, which is home to more than 4 million people. Bali's tourist areas were mostly empty 20 years ago after deadly terror attacks that targeted foreigners. But the island has worked to overcome that image. 10Local officials say the reopening of Bali to travelers from all countries is a start to help repair the island's economy. 11Indonesia's Tourism and Economy Minister, Sandiaga Uno, said the reopening will also serve as a "trial" as the government prepares to host G-20 events in Bali later this year. The G-20 is a grouping of the world's largest 20 economies. 12A G-20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors planned for mid-February was supposed to be held in Bali. But the meeting has been moved to Jakarta because of the latest rise in COVID-19 cases. 13I'm Jonathan Evans. 14The Associated Press and Reuters reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports for VOA Learning English. 15_____________________________________________ 16Words in This Story 17quarantine - n. the period of time during which a person or animal that has a disease or that might have a disease is kept away from others to prevent the disease from spreading 18significant - adj. important or noticeable 19tourism - n. the activity of traveling to a place for pleasure 20We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.