(12/14/2009)
On Monday evening, December 7, 2009, flight KLM 835 touched down at Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport, marking the resumption of an air bridge abandoned by KLM twelve years ago.
Arriving on the first flight leading a distinguished delegation of airline officials, travel industry members, and passengers was KLM's CEO, Peter Hartman who said: "We believe this route is very prospective."
Tempo Interactive reports that 24,000 bookings are already in hand for the new service through mid-2010.
The Bali-Amsterdam service is operating three times each week with an intermediate stop in Singapore. By mid-January, the Bali service will increase to four times a week, bringing to 10 the total number of weekly flights connection Holland and Indonesia.
KLM 835 which landed in Bali on December 7, 2009, was a Boeing 777-300 aircraft bearing the name "Bali, Island of Peace."
Garuda Indonesia officials were on hand in Bali to welcome the new KLM service with Emirsyah Satar, CEO of Garuda telling the press that both airline have agreed on a cooperation to provide support for the direct service.
Garuda is providing access to their Indonesian domestic network for inbound KLM passengers.
Current plans are for Garuda to recommence its own Amsterdam service by June 2010.
While in Bali, KLM and Garuda signed a memorandum of understanding covers joint services on the Bali-Singapore segment. Satar said such cooperation represented the first step of Garuda's plans to return to Europe and his airlines desire to offer excellent service to the public.
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