Garuda Indonesia boosts Melbourne to Bali, Jakarta

Garuda Indonesia is gearing up to be a more frequent sight in Melbourne this year, with the flag carrier revealing plans to not only boost flights between the Victorian capital and its Jakarta hub, but the tourist mecca of Bali too.

First cab off the rank is Melbourne-Jakarta, which will increase from two to three times a week from April 3 – every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. It’ll do so on the airline’s long-range Airbus A330, featuring 36 lie-flat business class seats in a passenger-friendly 1-2-1 layout.

Departing Melbourne at 8am, GA717 touches down at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International at 12:20pm. Being an early afternoon arrival, there’s ample opportunity to then connect on Garuda’s extensive network.

On the return, GA716 sees wheels up from Jakarta at 9:15pm every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, before landing in Melbourne at 6:35am the following day.

The schedule boost comes less than a week after Qantas signalled plans to launch its own direct service between Melbourne and Jakarta – jetting off three times a week from April 16, subject to approval.

Home to more than 10 million people, central Jakarta is a constant hive of activity.

Those looking to jet off to Bali are in luck too. Melbourne to Denpasar schedules will increase from once to twice-weekly from April 7, with a third service joining them from July 2.

Every Friday and Saturday from April 7, GA719 will bit farewell to Melbourne at 8am, touching down at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International at 12:05pm. They’ll be joined by a Monday departure in July.

When the holiday’s over, GA718 will be ready to take you back to Melbourne those same days, leaving Bali at 11:05pm, and landing at 6:35am the next morning.

Ahead of the Melbourne flight, business class passengers, GarudaMiles Gold and Platinum members and their SkyTeam Elite Plus equivalents will have access to the Marhaba Lounge, due to neither Garuda nor SkyTeam operating their own facility in the Victorian capital.

Last year, Garuda revealed it was planning to scale back from international operations in favour of the domestic market, leaving international connections to its strategic partner Emirates. However, it’s since had a change of heart, with Australia one of the biggest winners.

In addition to boosted Melbourne flights, Garuda Indonesia is also adding more connections from Sydney to both Bali and Jakarta – the former taking off as early as April 5.