Just two months after launching a new flight service between Canberra and Denpasar, BatikAir will be rolling back its Bali flight service to just two times per week.
The service was initially set to operate three times weekly, but demand for the flight is less than the trends predicted.
The BatikAir service from Canberra Airport to I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport is operated on a 162-passenger seat Boeing 737-800s.
The service initially launched with a return schedule operating every Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.
However, the airline has just announced that it will be removing the Wednesday service from the schedule for the foreseeable future.
The Canberra Airport Head of Aviation, Michael Thomson, told reporters that the airline is anticipating reintroducing the Wednesday service, or at least a third weekly service again when the peak travel season comes around again.
Thomson said, “My sense is that in those peak periods over Christmas, they should be able to go very well with three flights, and then in quieter months, maybe they scale back until they get established.”
He noted that travel within the Canberra region could support this flight frequency over time, comparing the demand for travel to Bali from Canberra to the increasing demand for flights to Fiji.
Thomson explained that Fiji Airways launched their services out of Canberra with a twice-weekly service, quickly increasing to a three-times weekly operation.
He told reporters, “These things take time…We saw it with Fiji that the first three months were a pretty hard slog, and then by month six, it started to turn, and they’re going very, very strongly now.”
He remains hopeful that the connection between Canberra and Denpasar will be strengthened in the coming months and that the future continues to look bright for the two destinations.
He said that more awareness of the flight service may be needed to help encourage tourists to commit to those flight bookings.
Thomson explained, “It’ll take a little while till we see more and more people be aware of the service and more and more people book the service, and as that happens, then they’ll look to see how they can expand, I would think.”
He added, “Our propensity and our desire to travel internationally is very strong; our economy is still, comparatively, very strong, and our income levels are some of the highest in Australia. So all those things line up pretty well for people wanting to travel internationally.”
Yet, as flights between Canberra and Bali are reduced in time, BatikAir’s main competitor, AirAsia, has just introduced a new flight service from the Land Down Under to the Island of the Gods.
The new flight services from Bali to Cairns launched on August 14th, 2024, and operate three times a week.
Speaking at the launch of the flight service, the CEO of AirAsia Indonesia, Veranita Josephine, issued a press statement to share, “Cairns has much to offer our millions of guests from Bali and across Asia with stunning views of the world-famous Great Barrier Reef.”
She added that “the opening of this flight route “could open up opportunities for residents of Cairns and surrounding cities, such as Mackay and Townsville, to fly to Bali. Even though Bali is one of Australia’s favorite tourist destinations, Indonesia has many other destinations.”
Bali is on track to see its busiest year for tourism on record, with Austrian tourists continuing to be amongst the most frequent international arrivals to the island.
In order to help support the ever-increasing number of new flight services I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport is in the process of installing more autogates across the arrivals and departures terminals to help speed up immigration services, which has long been one of the causes of lengthy queues for tourists.
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WAYAN BO
Sunday 25th of August 2024
On Suvarnabhumi airport are right now four abandoned A380’s, amazing that there aren’t leased yet to a low cost company 🤣
Randy
Sunday 25th of August 2024
Fiji is another destination to be discovered but already over mass tourism by Aussies like in Bali. Not on my bucket list for a while.
Rod Wilkinson
Sunday 25th of August 2024
With regard that Canberra flight cancellation,I thought it was peak season at the moment.
Steve b
Thursday 29th of August 2024
@Rod Wilkinson, me too
Sue Robson
Sunday 25th of August 2024
One of these airlines should look at between Cairns and Brisbane like Bundaberg or Rockhampton as MANY people have to take a flight or drive about 6 hrs to get a flight to Bali so would be much more accessible.
Tom Jones
Tuesday 27th of August 2024
@Sue Robson, LOL. That's never going to happen. A direct flight from Bundaberg to Bali? You're kidding me right? Just get in your car and drive the 3 or so hours to Brisbane airport to catch one of many international flights either directly to Bali or connecting via Singapore.