After only two months of operation, Batik Air has reduced its direct Canberra-Bali route to twice-weekly flights – down from three services per week – the only nonstop service between the Australian capital and the Indonesian island holiday hotspot.
Launching the direct return service on 14 June 2024, Batik Air initially operated thrice-weekly flights from Canberra to Bali (Denpasar) on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, departing at 8am. It decided to suspend the Wednesday flight in mid-August.
The Indonesian carrier flies the nonstop Canberra-Bali service on its 162-seat Boeing B737-800 aircraft.
Batik Air’s Bali flights mark Canberra Airport’s second international service after Fiji Airways’ Nadi route commenced in June 2023.
Canberra Airport Head of Aviation Michael Thomson said Batik Air advised the airport of the change after reviewing forward loads for the route and expects the carrier would reinstate a third flight during peak holiday seasons.
He told Riotact the volume of people travelling to Bali from the ACT region should be able to support thrice-weekly flights, citing Fiji Airways upping its services to three flights per week with a potential fourth service.
“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,” Thompson said.
“It’ll take a little while ‘til we see more and more people be aware of the service and more and more people book the service.”
Thomson said Canberra’s appetite for international travel was undiminished.
“Per head of population, the propensity to travel overseas out of the ACT is greater than any other state or territory in Australia, other than WA,” he said.
“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.”
Batik Air ended its Perth-Auckland flights due to operational requirements in mid-July 2024.
