Australia will welcome a new international airline in March 2025, as the carrier looks to cash in on one of Aussie travellers’ favourite overseas destinations.
Indonesian airline TransNusa has announced it will commence flights between Perth and Bali (Denpasar) on 20 March, with tickets available now (17 January) from AU$169 one-way through all channels.
With the announcement, TransNusa joins Jetstar, Indonesia AirAsia, Batik Air, Batik Air Malaysia and Citilink, connecting Western Australia with the holiday hotspot.
Flight 8B080 will depart Denpasar at 9.10am and arrive in Perth at 12.50pm. The Bali-bound flight, 8B081, will leave Perth at 1.35pm and touch down in Denpasar at 5.20pm.
Utilising its 174-seater A320 aircraft on the 3-hour, 40-minute route, TransNusa will initially operate the service three times a week, before increasing the route to a four-times-weekly service.
“The Bali – Perth international route is a golden route as the highest number of tourists, almost every year, in Bali are from Perth,” TransNusa Group CEO Datuk Bernard Francis said.
“Hence, the demand for this route is equally significant,” said Datuk Bernard, adding that TransNusa will be launching the maiden flight from Bali to Perth on March 20, this year.
“Initially, TransNusa will operate three scheduled flights a week, which will be on Monday, Thursday and Saturday. From April 12, we will increase the frequency to four times a week by adding another flight on Tuesday and eventually increase the frequency to a daily flight from June 1 onwards.”
Based in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, TransNusa operates a small domestic network and also flies to Malaysia, Singapore and China.
The low-cost carrier offers flyers bundles called SEAT, SEAT-PLUS and FLEXI-PRO.
“For the highest package, FLEXI-PRO, we provide more complete services such as free baggage 30kgs, free to choose seats, free food, and drinks, priority at check-in and boarding,” Datuk Bernard said.
“In addition, TransNusa also provides its FLEXI-PRO passengers with the ability to be able to change their flight schedule without restrictions and obtain a refund when needed.”
During the pandemic, the airline was forced to cease operations for two years. It recommenced flying domestically in October 2022 and launched its first international route between Jakarata and Kuala Lumpur six months later.
“We started from the bottom again. We had no aircraft or roadmap to follow,” Datuk Bernard said.
“Everything was new because the pandemic had broken the aviation business operations boundaries. We re-created and customised our business operations and strategy model… based on the post-pandemic scenario.”
The latest Australian Travel Industry Association ATIA Travel Trends Report shows that Indonesia is still our top holiday hotspot in 2024, with 1.59 million Aussies heading over there – up 34 per cent year-on-year.