Today marks the day that the first flight has departed Australia and landed directly on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali. The flight left Melbourne airport early this morning and is scheduled to land at Denpasar airport in less than an hour.
It’s the first flight that’s departed Australia and landed directly in Bali since March 2020. More than 300 people were booked on the flight, making it almost fully booked.
Tullamarine airport in Melbourne had Balinese-inspired entertainment set up to celebrate the occasion, with Legong dancers appearing at the check in counters, dancing to Rindik style music, which is a traditional Balinese instrument.
Excited Aussies documented the monumenteous occasion, by flooding social media with their experience checking in and boarding the flight.
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Social media influencers, Alexmioni, TeganPhillipa and Haylsa, were amongst the enthusiastic passengers who boarded the flights. Each of them captured stories and photos from the Melboune end.
The current requirements for Australians to enter Bali include double or triple vaccination documents, a health card registration form filled out on the Indonesian health app, a negative PCR test and a 3 day booking at a government listed hotel.
While the flight was very full, it’s been reported that this was a lot of confusion by travellers about what exactly they needed at the Australian airport.
Prior to the pandemic, Jetstar operated 85 return flights a week between Bali and Australia. The airline recently launched an “Un-Bali-Vable” sale in preparation for their return to the island. The sale offered flights for as little as $99, and reportedly sold over 40,000 fares in a single day.
“We are very excited to return to Bali today after two long years, and we are confident that Bali will quickly regain its position as our most popular international tourist destination now that borders are open,” Jetstar CEO Gareth Evans said of the airlines return to Bali.
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