Indonesia’s national airline, Garuda Indonesia, has announced updates to its flight services from Australia to Bali. The long-awaited increased flight schedule comes as welcome news for many Australian travelers for whom Garuda Indonesia is the airline of choice. The increased flight schedule also includes more flights to Jakarta, offering even more flexibility and onward travel options.
The first big announcement comes to the Sydney-Bali schedule. The schedule currently flies twice a week, and Garuda has confirmed a two-phase increase in the service. The service will increase to operate three times a week as of 5th April and up to four times a week from 7th July ahead of the school holidays. The GA715 service will depart from Sydney International Airport at 10.05 am every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
As of 7th July 2023, the service will run on Sundays too. As flight times go, the Garuda Sydney-Denpasar route is a breeze, taking off at 10.05 am and landing in Denpasar at 2.40 pm. Travelers will be through immigration and at their hotels in plenty of time for sundowners…traffic dependent!
The return service will increase to operate every Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday, as of 5th April, with a Friday service added as of 7th July. Once again, the timings of the Bali-Sydney route are pretty good going too, take off from I Gusti Ngurah Rai International at 11.40 pm, landing in Sydney at 7.25 am the following morning.
As for travelers from Melbourne, there is good news too. Garuda Indonesia will increase the direct Melbourne-Denpasar service from once to twice a week starting from 7th April. The flight will operate every Friday and Saturday, taking off at 8 am and landing at 12.05 pm; another well-timed flight. The return flight will also operate every Friday and Saturday, departing Bali at 11.05 pm and arriving in Melbourne at 6.35 am the morning after.
Garuda Airlines is also expanding its routes from Australia to Jakarta, the central transit hub for Indonesia and a worthy travel destination in its own right. The Melbourne-Jakarta route will start operating three times a week as of 3rd April 2023. The service will run every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday, departing Melbourne at 8 am and landing in the Indonesian capital at 12.20 pm. The return route will operate every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday taking off at 9.15 pm and landing back down under at 6.35 am.
Similarly, the Sydney-Jakarta route is also increasing its frequency, as of the 2nd of July ahead of the school holidays. The service will take off from Sydney at 11.45 am every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, landing in Jakarta at 4.30 pm. The return service will take off at 11.55 pm every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday.
The increased connections from Australia’s busiest airports to Indonesia’s busiest airports will make a huge difference to both travelers and the tourism economy. Increased flexibility for easily accessible travel experiences makes all the difference when it comes to a traveler’s decision-making process. Better connectivity to Bali is an important move, especially if the Island of the Gods wants to hit the 2023 tourism targets as laid out by Minster Sandiaga Uno.
As the Minister for Tourism and Creative Economies, Sandiaga Uno announced that he wants to see 7.4 million international tourists come to Indonesia this year. With the vast majority of them heading to Bali. Minister Uno is keen to see tourism more evenly spread throughout the country and has created five super-priority destinations.
These are Mandalika in Lombok, Lake Toba in North Sumatra, Likupang in North Sulawesi, Borobudur in Central Java, Labuan Bajo in East Nusa Tenggara. The increased flight services to Jakarta make it easier for Australian tourists to explore other areas of the country, especially Lake Toba, Likupang, and Borobudur.
Garuda Indonesia is one of many airlines to be increasing flight services to and from Bali. Last week South Korea’s first and largest budget carrier Jeju Air announced an MoU with the PT Angkasa Pura to create new flight routes between Incheon and Bali, as well as Batam in Riau Province.
Source : https://thebalisun.com/garuda-indonesia-finally-announces-increased-flights-from-australia-to-bali/
