No, that’s not a wreck photo. It’s a construction site where a 737 long abandoned at an airport in Bali is being reassembled on a clifftop above a popular beach, where its new owner hopes it will be a successful lodging.
It’s the project of Felix Demin, a Russian who lives in Bali, and who says he’s doing it “Because of Covid, it was a struggle for Bali – no tourists because of lockdown for almost two years now. “I want to make an icon showing the hope that tourists will be back here in Bali.”
A crew of a dozen workers sliced the plane in half for haulage and used a crane to site it on the cliff above Nyang Nyang beach, where it has been reassembled.
Bali usually hosts around six million international visits a year, with over 300,000 people employed in tourism; in 2021, only 45 visitors were admitted. Bali has recently re-opened for tourism from 19 countries, but even fully-vaccinated travelers are required to quarantine for 10 days, which is about as long as most visitors usually stay for in total.
