Canberra Airport is to start direct flights to Bali.
From June 14, the Indonesian airline Batik Air will fly three flights a week between the Australian capital and Denpasar, the capital of the Bali region. The airport also operates as a hub to other Asian destinations.
The new route marks a shift up in the airport's ambitions of getting back on to the international aviation map. It follows the opening of Canberra-Fiji flights.
"Bali is an amazing destination that blends culture, nature, and adventure and appeals to all types of travellers. We are also excited about the opportunity to connect Canberra to Asia through Batik's extensive network," the airport's head of aviation, Michael Thomson, said.
Batik Air is part of the Lion Air Group which also has airlines in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Batik Air's director of strategy, Chandran Rama Muthy, said that the aim was to allow Canberrans and travellers through Canberra to get easier access to south-east Asia.
"Our objective is not only to attract travellers from Canberra to Bali but also to unveil exciting opportunities for exploration in Indonesia's diverse secondary destinations served by Lion Air," he said.
"We are dedicated to enhance connectivity and making travel more accessible for passengers from Australia and Indonesia, and this new route reaffirms our dedication to that objective."
There has been an appetite in Bali to get more trips from Australia. "Australia, especially Canberra, is very important for Bali," the head of Bali Tourism Board Ida Bagus Agung Partha Adnyana told The Canberra Times in 2022.
Flights from Canberra to Fiji started last year.
Fiji Airways provides direct Canberra to Nadi flights three times a week, taking off on Tuesdays and Fridays, and from last October also on Sundays.
Mr Thomson said last year: "Our top priority this year is to connect Canberra internationally. We are focused on resuming services to the Middle East and Singapore and new services to the South Pacific and New Zealand."
Before the pandemic, there were direct international flights from Canberra on Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines.
Neither has returned. Singapore Airlines told The Canberra Times in September that it had "no immediate plans" to reinstate services to the nation's capital.
It said that any return would depend on the market. "We continue to monitor travel demand and will continue to be nimble and flexible in matching our capacity to meet demand for air travel," a spokesperson said.
Qatar Airways has been trying to get extra flights to Australia but failed to get the permission from the federal authorities.
It has, though, added an extra leg to Adelaide on some of its flights via Melbourne. There is a view in the industry that Adelaide took the route which Canberra previously had.
As the pandemic eased, the airline said initially that it would resume flights from Canberra in 2022. It then postponed the date to early December. The airport hoped the airline would be back by April 1 last year.
"We know Qatar Airways is committed to Canberra and how important it is for them to connect to the nation's capital and the seat of government," Mr Thomson said at the time.
"We are confident we will see them resume services this year alongside other international flight services to our city."
