I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali, Indonesia, will halt all flights on 7 March to help locals celebrate Nyepi (Day of Silence).
The close will mean approximately 468 flights, including 261 domestic flights and 207 international flights, will not be able to land or take-off at the airport from 6am on 7 March to 6am on 8 March.
Ngurah Rai airport general manager Yanus Suprayogi told The Jakarta Post: “During Nyepi, the airport will halt all flight operations to respect Hindus in Bali, so they can observe Nyepi solemnly.”
Ngurah Rai airport is the sole commercial airport in the Hindu province of Bali.
Garuda Indonesia will be the worst hit airline with 94 flights being cancelled, followed by Lion Air with 67 and AirAsia with 52.
Domestic routes to Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport will be the most affected with 52 cancellations, followed by Surabaya Airport with 16 flights and Lombok Airport with ten.
The one-day closure of Bali airport will also affect 18 international flights to Singapore, 16 flights to Kuala Lumpur and nine flights to Perth.
“Announcements on the airport closure have been distributed to all airlines and airports around the world,” Yanus told the publication.
Even though operations of commercial and charter aircraft will be halted, the airport and other stakeholders will still deploy their staff to deal with emergencies.
Yanus added: “During Nyepi, we will have 369 personnel on standby at the airport. Besides this, 30 police officers and 35 military personnel will be deployed to guard the airport.”
