Virgin Australia plots more Bali flights, new Perth route

By Andrew Curran.

Virgin Australia wants to launch Perth – Denpasar flights and add extra services to Bali from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, according to an application submitted to Australia’s International Air Services Commission (IASC) this week.

The application follows a recently amended bilateral air services agreement between Australia and Indonesia, which allocated an additional 5,000 seats per week in each direction to carriers from both countries.

As previously reported by Aero South Pacific, the Qantas Group has already asked IASC to award it 4,539 of those 5,000 available seats.

The group wants to launch Qantas services between Brisbane (BNE) and Denpasar (DPS), and Perth (PER) and Jakarta (CGK) , while increasing frequencies on the Melbourne (MEL) – Jakarta route. It also wants to start Jetstar flights between Western Sydney (WSI) and Denpasar in early 2027.

Virgin Australia’s application complicates the Qantas Group’s plans, with IASC expected to divide the available capacity between the two applicants.

“Virgin Australia applies for an allocation of 5,086 seats per week in each direction on the Indonesia route,” its October 19 application reads.

Virgin Australia eyes Perth - Denpasar flights

Subject to seasonal variations, Virgin Australia already operates seven flights per week between Brisbane and Denpasar, ten between Melbourne and Denpasar, and seven between Sydney and Denpasar. All flights use B737-8s. Virgin Australia does not fly to Jakarta but holds around 20% of the capacity available to Australian carriers on the Australia – Indonesia country pair.

The application states that Virgin Australia wants to increase its Melbourne – Denpasar and Sydney – Denpasar services by four flights per week each, adding 728 seats on each route in each direction. The airline also wants to increase its Brisbane – Denpasar services by three flights per week, adding 546 seats in each direction each week.

Subject to approval, Virgin Australia says it plans to launch the additional Melbourne flights on December 13, 2026, the additional Sydney flights on March 23, 2027, and the extra Brisbane services on September 16, 2027.

The airline also plans to launch flights between Perth and Denpasar on June 21, 2027, offering 17 flights per week in each direction. This would add 3,094 seats each way per week on what is already one of Australia’s most competitive international routes.

Before the new air services agreement, Australian airlines were already using the full capacity available to them on the country pair. Under the existing allocation, Virgin Australia says it has just ten seats per week in each direction in spare capacity.

Between them, the Qantas Group and Virgin Australia are seeking 9,679 seats per week in each direction, against the 5,000 available. Subject to the airlines being able to operate the proposed flights, IASC tends to be relatively agnostic in its capacity allocation decisions. Both groups are therefore likely to receive some of the capacity they have requested, and neither will be able to launch all of their proposed services.

More seats on one of Australia's busiest country pairs

In terms of passenger numbers, the Australia–Indonesia country pair is Australia’s third-busiest international market. Almost 4.7 million people travelled across its 15 active city pairs in the 12 months to July 31, 2026.

During the same period, Perth – Denpasar and Melbourne – Denpasar were the fifth- and sixth-busiest passenger routes, respectively.

Eight airlines operate between Australia and Indonesia, including Qantas, Jetstar, Virgin Australia, Garuda Indonesia, Batik Air Indonesia, Batik Air Malaysia, AirAsia Indonesia and TransNusa. Jetstar is by far the largest operator in terms of available seat capacity.

You can read Virgin Australia’s IASC application here.

Photo: Aero South Pacific.
Contact the writer: andrew@aerosouthpacific.com