Indonesia AirAsia X has finally been given the green light to fly direct between Melbourne and Bali (Denpasar) by Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA).
The carrier will commence services from 18 March 2015 with two flights per week between Melbourne and the popular holiday destination, increasing services to five flights per week (only excluding Monday’s) from 1 May.
“We adhere to standard aviation practice in selling the flights but unfortunately we were caught up by bad timing during Christmas, in which we were not able to rectify the matter in time,” AirAsia Group ceo Tony Fernandes said.
According to Fernandes, once proceedings are finalised, the airline will launch a sale for fares on the new service.
The flights will be operated on an Airbus A330-300 aircraft with 365 economy seats and 12 business class flat bed seats.
“AirAsia plans to grow the existing hub network from Bali to 16 direct onward destinations in Asia and this will be further developed over time,” AirAsia X group ceo, Datuk Kamarudin Meranun said.
Since 2007, AirAsia has carried over 7.5 million guests between Asia and Australia.
The new services are perhaps ill-timed following the social media backlash #BoycottBali in recent weeks, which is expected to gain steam after the impending executions of two Australians in Indonesia.
