In an airline-first, Virgin Australia will today commence flights between the Gold Coast and Bali, directly linking the two iconic holiday destinations.

The flights will operate daily during holiday periods and four times a week year-round, providing a direct, convenient, and great value flight options for holidaymakers in need of a Bali getaway.

The flight took place on the same day Air New Zealand restarted its direct services to Bali from Auckland.

The route will offer more than 2,200 seats between the destinations each week at peak times, with a total of over 90,000 seats a year.

To celebrate the maiden flight, Virgin Australia held a Bintang Yoga session in the international terminal at Gold Coast Airport today, featuring familiar faces in the worlds of sport, health and wellness.

In further celebration of the new route, Virgin Australia has dropped a massive sale on fares between the Gold Coast and Bali from as low as $419* (return, Economy Lite), available until midnight 3 April 2023, unless sold out prior.

Embargo: 12.01am Wednesday 29 March: Virgin Australia will take off with the first-ever Gold Coast to Bali flights from today (Wednesday), providing a new connection between the two iconic holiday destinations.

In celebration, Virgin Australia has dropped fares from as low as $419 return between the Gold Coast and Bali available until midnight 3 April 2023, unless sold out prior.

The route, which is one of the airline’s most highly anticipated new short-haul international services, has resulted in strong demand from holidaymakers since it was announced in June last year, with particularly high demand through Easter and summer holiday periods.

Virgin Australia is currently operating the highest number of domestic flights through Gold Coast Airport of any Australian carrier, with April capacity through Gold Coast Airport expected to reach 142 per cent of pre-COVID levels.

Virgin Australia Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer, Alistair Hartley said the new services will provide guests with greater convenience, choice and value for their next Bali holiday, a destination many Australians love.

“Until now, services between Gold Coast and Bali have never been operated by any commercial airline, making this another milestone for Virgin Australia and our guests,” he said.

“Virgin Australia is committed to providing the best value airfares to Bali, and that’s evident with our Gold Coast-Bali sale which is offering fares from as low as $419* return, which we expect will be extremely popular.

“We are incredibly excited to see this service take off, representing the latest step in growing our international footprint, which consists of over 500 destinations around the world through Virgin Australia and our partner airlines.”

Mr Hartley said Bali services were in high demand across the Virgin Australia network.

“Bali is an incredibly popular destination for us, and we now operate more than 40 services a week between Bali and Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and the Gold Coast,” he said.

“It is clear Australians want to get out and travel and have a wonderful experience along the way. The expansion of the Virgin Australia network to include direct flights between the Gold Coast and Bali reflects this.”

Queensland Airports Limited Chief Commercial Officer, Adam Rowe said the direct link would make it much easier for locals wanting to holiday in Bali.

“This new connection makes Bali holidays quicker and easier for Gold Coast and Northern NSW locals, removing the need for connecting flights, or long trips up the motorway,” he said.

“We expect the service will be particularly popular for those planning surfing or wellness retreats.”

The inaugural flight will be celebrated with Gold Coast’s first-ever Bintang Yoga session at the departure gate at Gold Coast International Airport – playfully combining two things Bali is famous for.

Virgin Australia will operate daily services between the Gold Coast and Bali during school holiday periods[1], with four return services a week in off-peak periods, aligned to customer demand.

Virgin Australia continues to grow its short-haul international network, operating services to Queenstown, Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu (from 31 March 2023) and the soon-to-be launched flights between Cairns and Tokyo, taking off from 28 June 2023. New short haul international services will see Virgin Australia grow its international capacity by 50 per cent from FY23 to FY24.