Bali Arrivals

Note: Early in 2009 the Bali governor gave the go-ahead for a long-awaited expansion of Ngurah Rai airport. The plans call for the domestic terminal to be expanded and upgraded, after which it will be used as the international terminal, while the current international building will be converted to domestic. During the construction, there may be some changes to the arrival and departure processes described here.

The arrival process for domestic and international passengers is essentially identical, with the exception of course of the immigration and customs formalities for international passengers. Arriving international passengers exit the sky-bridge from the plane on the same floor as departing passengers. However, a glass wall separates arriving and departing passengers, forming a corridor around the outside of the terminal.

Most domestic flights will park on the tarmac and be taken to the terminal by a bus. Note that if you're flying Garuda Indonesia from Jakarta, you may be taken to the international arrivals hall, if there are passengers on the flight connecting from international flights. Keep your boarding pass handy to show you're a domestic passenger, and use the appropriate lanes to bypass immigration and customs.

Following the corridor around will bring you to stairs and escalators taking you down to baggage claim. International passengers will need to pass through immigration first. If you need to purchase a visa-on-arrival, queue up at the purchase kiosks before heading to the passport control counter.

After claiming your baggage, international passengers need to go through customs, which is usually straight-forward. The one thing they're usually on the watch for is alcohol. Be sure that any wine or liquor you bring in is within the duty free limits.

There are currency exchange counters just outside baggage claim, but you should not change money at the airport unless absolutely necessary. The rate is usually better outside the airport. Use an ATM or bring small bills in US Dollars for initial purchases such as airport transfers.