Overwhelmed immigration officers at Bali’s busy Ngurah Rai International Airport will have a welcome relief next year with the installation of autogates aimed at hastening queues.
A push for an increase in tourism numbers across the country has seen foreign visitors head to the resort island but infrastructure has lacked, leading to long queues at the airport.
Bali’s peak season, usually between June and September coinciding with the dry season, saw 17,000 foreigners enter the country via the airport per day, Immigration Class I Ngurah Rai Head Ari Budijanto told Tribun Bali on Tuesday, Sept. 5.
“The problem is the arrivals are not spread out but occur only at certain hours,” Budijanto said.
“Not to mention in the afternoon from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., about 15 wide-bodied aircraft plus charter planes, about 19-20 aircraft come in. Imagine, within two hours, our officers must conduct checks on 4,500 foreigners on Bali immigration,” he said.
Bali also plays host to major international and local conferences each year, including next year’s International Monetary Fund and World Bank conferences prompting the deadline.