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European Transport Commission stated on 28 June that within one week EU would officially bar all Indonesian airlines from flying to Europe. Whilst Indonesian carriers do not currently fly to Europe, the ban is also a warning to EU's consumers and travel agencies not to use the country's airlines. The Indonesian carrier ban applies to all 51 airlines certified in the country.

The statement immediately invited though reaction from related officials and business players in the country, mostly accusing the statement as unfair and does not supported by acceptable facts and evidences. Some even thinks that it against the facts that many (not all) Indonesian carriers has made significant (in fact some of them are fairly slight) improvements in the last few months.

Bali tourism industry has experienced and successfully went through severe turmoil along the last few years, mainly because of the terrorism issue but also because of some other smaller other issues. Is there any chance for ETC statement to become another hit to Bali tourism?

At a glance, so far there is no Indonesian carriers fly European route, including the national flag carrier Garuda. If there is at all a possibility that ETC statement may influence international trust, it may affect Garuda flights from Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, and other short-haul routes. However, in all of the cases there are other airliners flying the same route as an alternative for those who lost their trust on Indonesian carriers because of the statement.

Wisna Wedhana, the MD of Villa Rental Bali, one of leading holiday rental agencies on the island confirms that 100% of the agencies clients flew into the island on foreign carriers. With an exception of those coming form Jakarta which mostly flew Garuda and some regional clients which flew AirAsia.

So, is there anything to worry about? I personally believe that there is nothing to worry about. Bali remains a safe and nice place to visit anyway. And for those who get affected by the ETC statement, there are a lot of other safer ways to come. Those who come to Bali with no other choice but flying Indonesian carriers are local. Fortunately we have been worrying for our safety in flying local carriers for years.

Adi has been spending more than five years focusing on helping his clients in private villa and holiday rental industry in Bali to gain better online exposure. Combination of information technology and marketing backgrounds brought him to become the man behind most commercially successful websites in Bali.