Jetstar Resumes Flights to Bali

Jetstar 787 takes off
Jetstar Boeing 787-8. Photo: Jetstar.

The first Jetstar flight from Melbourne to Bali in almost two years will take off this morning, taking almost 300 Australians to the Indonesian holiday destination.

Flight JQ43 will take off from Melbourne at 9.55am this morning, with the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner arriving at 12.45pm local time.

Many of the passengers on board would have taken advantage of Jetstar’s recent Un-Bali-Vable sale with $99 one-way flights. When Jetstar launched this sale, it sold the highest number of seats to Bali on a single day in five years.

Jetstar will initially just operate three flights per week from Melbourne to Bali, but plans to gradually increase services as demand increases. It is currently selling flights from Perth and Sydney to Bali from April, with plans to resume services from Brisbane, Adelaide, Darwin and Cairns from May. However, cancellations are possible if the Indonesian government hasn’t yet further relaxed entry requirements by then.

Last month, Jetstar was planning to also resume Sydney-Denpasar flights from 15 March but all flights on this route have since been removed from sale until at least the end of March.

Qantas also announced last month that its Sydney-Denpasar flights would resume at the end of March, but Qantas has recently “zeroed out” all its planned Sydney-Denpasar flights for April. This means these flights are very likely to be cancelled but customers have not yet been informed of this and cannot yet access a refund.

Garuda Indonesia is currently operating only a limited schedule on the Sydney-Denpasar and Sydney-Jakarta routes.

Bali has been hit hard by COVID-19

The Balinese economy is normally heavily reliant on tourism, so it has been hit hard by COVID-19. Prior to the pandemic, more than a million Australians visited Bali each year.

“Today is an important milestone for us at Jetstar, and also for the local businesses in Bali who have been heavily impacted by the lack of tourism during the pandemic,” Jetstar CEO Gareth Evans said.

“Pre-COVID, Jetstar operated up to 85 return flights per week to Bali, carrying more than two million customers each year and contributing almost two billion Australian dollars annually to the local Balinese economy.”

The streets of Bali have been a lot emptier than usual during the pandemic
The streets of Bali have been a lot emptier than usual during the pandemic. Photo: Jetstar.

Current entry requirements for Indonesia

Indonesia is now open to tourists, but there are still some entry requirements in place. Travellers from Australia would need a total of five COVID-19 tests to travel to Indonesia and back. Travellers must also book an approved hotel for the first four nights of their stay in Bali.

As of the time of writing, the current requirements to enter Bali include:

  • PCR test taken within 48 hours before departure from Australia
  • Proof of full COVID-19 vaccination
  • Purchase travel insurance with at least USD25,000 coverage for COVID-19
  • Get a visa on arrival
  • PCR test after arrival in Bali
  • Book an approved CHSE hotel for at least 4 nights after arrival
  • Another PCR test the day before exiting hotel quarantine (day 3 after arrival – this can be arranged through the hotel)

You would also need to comply with all Australian government requirements, including pre-departure and post-arrival COVID-19 testing, to return to Australia.

Compared to other holiday destinations like Fiji, the Philippines or even Singapore, these requirements are onerous and add significantly to the cost of a holiday in Bali. But this is at least a first step in the right direction.

The entry requirements for travel to other parts of Indonesia are different to those of Bali. Tourists arriving in Jakarta or elsewhere only need to quarantine on arrival for 1 night.

The quarantine-free travel to Bali is currently being trialled until the end of March. All going well, the requirements will be further relaxed from April.

 

Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum.

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 70 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include economics, aviation & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.
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Community Comments

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Well… Bali did say it was looking to get a higher-value tourist!

JQ is doing its best with the budget market, $250 return or thereabouts from MEL and SYD. Guess the hotel list will be expanded with cheaper options if Bali needs the money/tourists.

The Grand Mirage was offering 5 nights for $1495, including return airport transfers, all meals, $30 spa credit, etc. I thought that was reasonable value. The price of the visa and stuff I hadn’t thought of.

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I was excited until the annoucement. To me the answer is a big fat no, still closed to casual travellers.

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Until pre-flight testing is disappeared everything is going to be muted because the economies won't be there.

Hopefully this happens soon, the opening of the borders to all international tourists was a good first step.

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Until pre-flight testing is disappeared everything is going to be muted because the economies won't be there.

Hopefully this happens soon, the opening of the borders to all international tourists was a good first step.

Pre-flight testing yes, but I also think on arrival quarantine of longer than 72 hours would exclude me from travelling somewhere.

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Pre-flight testing yes, but I also think on arrival quarantine of longer than 72 hours would exclude me from travelling somewhere.

Slightly off topic........ but Thailand had an acceptable policy for a milli second..... arrive pretested...... into an approved hotel for 1 night awaiting on arrival test... then go!! Thailand being Thailand had to up the ante. Now after initial arrival test and hotel stay, you are still free to go on a negative result. HOWEVER...... on the fifth day of your stay, you are now required to check into another "quarantine" hotel overnight while awaiting the results of another PCR test 🤔

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Slightly off topic........ but Thailand had an acceptable policy for a milli second..... arrive pretested...... into an approved hotel for 1 night awaiting on arrival test... then go!! Thailand being Thailand had to up the ante. Now after initial arrival test and hotel stay, you are still free to go on a negative result. HOWEVER...... on the fifth day of your stay, you are now required to check into another "quarantine" hotel overnight while awaiting the results of another PCR test 🤔

Yea hard pass

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Slightly off topic........ but Thailand had an acceptable policy for a milli second..... arrive pretested...... into an approved hotel for 1 night awaiting on arrival test... then go!! Thailand being Thailand had to up the ante. Now after initial arrival test and hotel stay, you are still free to go on a negative result. HOWEVER...... on the fifth day of your stay, you are now required to check into another "quarantine" hotel overnight while awaiting the results of another PCR test 🤔

That's actually so stupid it's funny.

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B211A visa in advance at from $ 300 a pop

This alone is a dealbreaker, I really want to go to northern Sulawesi and Halmahera but not willing to do 5 days quarantine either. If they want tourists, this is not the way to go about it.

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Based on the horror stories from Fiji, this would be a hard pass from me. If the Fijians are pulling the dodgy, imagine what the Indos have up their sleeves!

Stick with Europe or maybe an African island until this testing non-sense is gone.

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If you were traveling to see family or close friends then definitely worth going, but I am not sure if international travel is all that appealing, things can change quickly so unless you have contacts on the ground where you are visiting then I wouldn't be traveling.

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