Natural Disasters Are Forcing an Indonesian Airline to Shut Down

AirAsia X, a Southeast Asian low-cost carrier, will end scheduled flights from Bali (DPS) to Tokyo Narita (NRT) in January 2019.

The carrier's daily service from Denpasar to Narita, on an Airbus A330, will no longer exist in the new year because of the "challenging operational environment" in Indonesia due to the series of natural disasters that occurred close to Bali. The airline's CEO Nadda Buransiri shared this development in the company's 2018 third-quarter financial results. This route is the airline's only scheduled operation.

"The company is underway to evaluate the available options for our Indonesian associate to ensure sustainability of the company," Buransiri said.

To do that, AirAsia X Indonesia will operate on a non-scheduled commercial airline basis. The last scheduled flight will be Jan. 14, 2019, according to Routes Online.

Natural disasters have devastated several Indonesian cities and affected travel to this Southeast Asian hotspot for several years. On Saturday, at least 430 were killed by a tsunami that struck western Indonesia — marking almost exactly 14 years after a tsunami caused a 9.1-magnitude earthquake that hit Sumatra and left more than 227,000 people dead or missing. Indonesia has also suffered from several other tsunamis and earthquakes, as well as a volcanic eruption that left TPG stranded in Bali.

H/T: FlightGlobal