Summary

• Bali’s main airport, Ngurah Rai International Airport, is located 13 km from Denpasar and is the second largest airport in Indonesia.
• Jetstar is the second largest airline after Bali and offers the most international seats.
• The top five international airlines on DPS include Indonesia AirAsia, Jetstar, Batik Air Malaysia, Singapore Airlines and Virgin Australia.

The main airport of Bali, known as Bali The international airport, officially I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport (DPS), is the main entry point for passengers traveling to the Indonesian paradise of Bali, a tourist mecca for those looking to visit ancient temples, beautiful beaches, a spot for surfing or snorkeling, and plenty of Instagram-worthy viewpoints.

Ngurah Rai International Airport is located 13 kilometers from the center of Denpasar and serves all Bali . It is the second largest airport in Indonesia after Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (CGK) in Jakarta. The airport has developed into one of the most famous airports in the world through numerous modernization projects. The airport is classified as Category IX and can welcome some of the largest commercial aircraft in service, including the Boeing 747-8 And Airbus A380 .

The airport is named after I Gusti Ngurah Rai, a Balinese hero who died in a “fight to the death”, also called Pulutan, against the Dutch at Marga in Taban on November 20, 1946. The Dutch defeated his company with air support, which was part of the Indonesian Revolution of 1946.

Data for this article comes from Cirium, an online aviation analytics company.

Australia is a key market

Today, DPS is a hive of activity, welcoming international airlines from all over the world. One of the airport’s most popular markets is Australia where several airlines connect Bali with various state airports. These include:

Therefore, it is no surprise that Jetstar remains the second largest airline at DPS by the number of flights (8,431 in 2024 (arrivals and departures)). However, what are the top five international airlines serving I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport (DPS) and where are they headed? Let’s take a look:

The five largest international carriers at DPS

Indonesia AirAsia

Sister company of Malaysian AirAsia Indonesia AirAsia has the most international arrivals and departures from Bali airport. Its 1,686,600 seats per year represent Available Seat Miles (ASM) of 2,310,989,040 and connects passengers from DPS to:

• Bangkok–Don Mueang
• Cairns
• Hong Kong (from 1 October 2024)
• Malaysia
• Kuala Lumpur–International
• Perth
• Phuket
• Singapore

Jetstar

Australia’s Jetstar Airways ranks second in most international flights arriving and departing at DPS with 8,431 in 2024. However, as the airline operates both the Airbus A320 and Boeing 787 to the Indonesian tourist hotspot, it leads the list in most international seats to/from the airport this year.

Jetstar will offer 1,936,650 DPS seats in 2024, equivalent to 4,588,998,016 ASMs. As mentioned above, it connects Bali to seven Australian destinations. While its sister company Jetstar Asia is not in the top five, this airline also flies from Bali direct to Singapore.

Batik Air Malaysia

Another airline that rules the skies over Bali is Batik Air Malaysia. It is a modest network of DPS serving five destinations and totaling 6,602 inbound and outbound flights. This amounts to 1,225,360 seats and 2,187,976,394 available seat miles this year. When you fly to Bali with Batik Air Malaysia, you will travel from one of these international gateways:

It should be noted that the above figures do not take into account the operations of the sister airline. Batik Air which has the IATA code ID. Batik Air’s international network from Bali includes Bangkok–Don Mueang, Canberra, Perth and Singapore.

Legacy carriers round out the last two

Singapore Airlines

From its hub in Changi International Airport (SIN), the national carrier of Singapore, is the only Asian airline to feature in Bali’s top five. The two cities will be connected by up to five daily flights using Boeing 787-10 or 737-8 MAX aircraft. Flights are scheduled throughout the day to provide convenient transfers for passengers from the wider SQ network.

This year, SQ will operate 4,380 flights to and from Bali, equivalent to 1,309,896 meals or 1,358,362,152 available seat miles.

Virgin Australia

Although Virgin Australia’s network is a shadow of what it once was before the pandemic, its commitment to Bali has not waned. The Brisbane-based airline completes the top five international carriers to Bali with services in five Australian cities (Adelaide, Brisbane Gold Coast, Melbourne and Sydney). The data for VA can be found below:

Virgin Australia Historically, Perth and Port Hedland (charter) were also connected to Bali, but after the pandemic these connections were not resumed.

Other notable mentions

As Bali’s popularity continues to grow, we could list many more airlines. Emirates is the only airline operating the Airbus A380 to Bali, while neighbour Etihad Airways has just launched its own service to the Indonesian tourist hotspot.

Other leading airlines with international flights to Bali include Vietjet (Vietnam), which serves Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City with 3,176 flights per year, and Indonesian airline Garuda Indonesia, which serves Melbourne, Seoul-Incheon, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo-Narita with 3,079 flights per year.