Bali’s main gateway is telling a clear story about travel patterns in 2025. At Ngurah Rai International Airport, international passengers are now firmly in the majority. More people arrived and departed on overseas routes than on domestic ones, marking a shift in how Bali is being accessed by travelers.
Latest figures show that 63 percent of all passengers at Ngurah Rai were international throughout 2025. This means foreign travelers outnumbered domestic passengers over the full year. In total, the airport handled 24,125,161 passengers. Of that number, 15,177,283 were international travelers, while 8,947,878 came from domestic flights, accounting for the remaining 37 percent.
According to Ngurah Rai Airport General Manager Nugroho Jati, this imbalance did not happen by chance. It was closely linked to stronger air connectivity and the expansion of international routes serving Bali.
“In 2025, there were 13 new international route activations, some of which were inaugural routes that had never existed before, such as Newcastle (Australia), Cheongju (South Korea), Saigon (Vietnam), and Sichuan (China),” Nugroho Jati said, as quoted by Antara on Wednesday (January 14, 2026).
These new connections helped push monthly passenger movement to an average of around 2 million people. On a daily basis, the airport handled roughly 66,000 passengers for arrivals and departures combined. The steady flow confirmed Bali’s position as a major international aviation hub in the region.
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“This shows that travel demand to Bali is very positive. It also reflects the airport’s strong role as the main gateway for national tourism as well as international connectivity,” he added.
Traffic data also reveal which routes were the busiest. The Jakarta Cengkareng route remained dominant with 4.23 million passengers over the year. International travel followed closely behind. Singapore recorded 2.69 million passengers, Kuala Lumpur reached 1.76 million, Surabaya accounted for 1.31 million, and Melbourne contributed 1.15 million passengers.
Passenger numbers peaked in July. During that month alone, Ngurah Rai Airport served 2.3 million passengers, averaging 76,005 people per day. This spike coincided with the summer holiday season and school breaks, periods that traditionally drive higher travel volumes. Both foreign and domestic tourists took advantage of this window to visit Bali.
The growth in international routes has gone hand in hand with rising foreign arrivals. Immigration data from the Class I Special Immigration Office TPI Ngurah Rai show that between January and December 2025, a total of 7.1 million foreign nationals entered Bali through the airport.
Australian travelers continued to dominate foreign arrivals. Australian passport holders totaled 1.67 million people, representing 23 percent of all foreign visitors. India followed in second place with nearly 584,000 arrivals. Third were travelers from the People’s Republic of China, numbering 560,000 people.
Taken together, these figures underline how Ngurah Rai International Airport has become increasingly international in character. With new routes, strong seasonal demand, and millions of foreign arrivals, the airport’s role as Bali’s main tourism gateway continues to grow in scale and significance.
