"We are currently waiting for the licence and other administrative documents, as well as available slots from China. The charter flights will fly three times a week," said a Garuda Indonesia official.
Garuda Indonesia is launching chartered flights from Bali to five cities in China. Services will cover the Denpasar-Chengdu, Denpasar-Shenzhen, Denpasar-Kunming, Denpasar-Chongqing and Denpasar-Xiamen routes and use the Airbus A330 with 360 seating capacity.
"We are currently waiting for the licence and other administrative documents, as well as available slots from China. The charter flights will fly three times a week," said a Garuda Indonesia official.
The flights will target Chinese travellers heading overseas for the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday, but will also serve as a trial for the airline before offering scheduled services.
Garuda Indonesia currently flies to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.
According to the Bali Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the number of Chinese tourists visiting Bali between January and November last year reached 907,028, an increase by 20.2% compared to the previous year.
China ranks below only Australia as the biggest source of inbound tourists to Bali.