Shortage of flights threaten Bali tourism

An AAP report says while there are record numbers of international visitors travelling to Bali, the number of Australians holidaying there is also gradually improving, but the Balinese tourism industry says it’s not just the recent bird flu deaths that are the biggest hurdle to full recovery.

Hoteliers and tourists say the main problem is the lack of seat availability on flights, particularly between Bali and the east coast of Australia, with Qantas stepping aside for Jetstar and as predicted on TravelMole, Qantas gradually bowing out of the holiday destination and allowing its budget arm Jetstar to take over routes.

Qantas flies twice a week to Bali from Perth and Darwin, but it is understood the airline plans to drop its Darwin flights from October, however it has added a flight to the Perth-Denpasar route between August 5 and October 21.

A spokeswoman said there were no plans at this stage to expand services from any other cities., adding, “Qantas will continue to monitor the route and make changes as demand increases,” she said.

Meanwhile, Jetstar, which launched services to Bali in early December last year, has already announced it will double its direct services between Sydney and Bali to four times weekly from October 28, in addition to twice weekly flights from Melbourne to Bali.

It says this is in response to the bounce back in Australian “traveller demand and the ongoing recovery of the island’s tourism industry”, meaning six Jetstar flights a week will fly between the Australian east coast and Bali.  It doesn’t yet fly from Perth. 

Jetstar Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce says the carrier’s additional Bali flights were a direct response to the island’s existing performance as one of Jetstar’s strongest international markets.

Garuda Indonesia though has cut its Adelaide services to Bali last November followed by Brisbane in January this year and a spokeswoman says the cut was part of a global rationalisation of routes which “required the deployment of available aircraft according to route profitability”.

“There is no doubt that the Australian market to Bali is returning with a vengeance and we will continue to monitor this and, subject to available aircraft, would certainly not discount a return to either of these routes in the future,” she says.

The airline is operating 20 flights a week direct to Bali from Australia (five ex Sydney, three ex Melbourne, two ex Darwin and 10 ex Perth) in addition to four direct flights a week from Perth to Jakarta, with connections to Bali.

Customers have also noted a rise in the number of delays and postponements with flights.  “As for the delays and postponements, occasionally flights must be delayed due to operational or technical reasons,” she says. “This happens with all airlines and is nothing out of the ordinary.”  “The safety of our passengers will always be our highest priority.”

The Indonesian national carrier reported a profit of around $A19 million in the half year to June, which includes the low season and is usually its weaker half.

It says consolidation measures recently undertaken have improved revenue, passenger volumes, load factor and yield.

Garuda Indonesia’s Regional Manager, Southwest Pacific Suranto Yitnopawiro says Garuda Indonesia’s traffic from Australia to Bali has more than doubled that of the first half of 2006, reflecting an increasingly strong surge in the overall numbers of Australians visiting Bali for holidays.

Bali is now Australia’s fourth most popular holiday destination, behind New Zealand, Thailand and the USA and its share of the total Australian holiday market has grown by 44.5 per cent over the most recent half year, he says.

Garuda says the 85,860 Australians visiting Bali during the first half of this year was around 30,000 more than for the same time last year, with Western Australia remaining Bali’s biggest Australian market, followed by NSW and Victoria.

Meanwhile, collapsed Bali airline Air Paradise is often reported to be looking at a comeback, depending on finance, while Singapore-based low-budget carrier Tiger Airways has also hinted at possible flights between Bali and Australia.

The Little Bali Hotel and Resort Company co-founder Brett Morgan says although Australian numbers have improved they are still a long way from where they should be.

Report by The Mole