Indonesia’s TransNusa Aviation will launch flights from Melbourne Airport to Bali, offering more choice to travellers heading to Australia’s most popular overseas beach destination.
From October, the airline will fly a 174-seat Airbus A320 from Melbourne to Bali four times a week, adding more than 70,000 additional seats per year to the highly sought-after route.
Flights have been scheduled to help maximise holiday time, with a 5:25am departure from Melbourne putting beach lovers on the ground in Bali in time for lunch and an afternoon drink by the pool.
TransNusa’s late evening departure from Bali means holiday makers can spend the day soaking up sunshine before boarding their flight back to Australia.
The new service will depart Melbourne Airport on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays with return flights from Denpasar operating on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
TransNusa will become the sixth airline flying between Melbourne Airport and Bali, making it Australia’s most competitive route, and comes after a slight dip in passenger numbers in August.
A total of 2,942,527 people travelled through Melbourne Airport across the month, down 1.6 per cent on August 2025.
Melbourne Airport CEO Lorie Argus said TransNusa's arrival would allow more people to travel by giving Victorians a new value option to access an old favourite.
"Bali has long been popular with Australians because it offers something for everyone at every price point,” she said.
“As a value carrier, TransNusa offers passengers 20 kilograms of free checked baggage on all fares, with the choice of purchasing food, drink and other extras to customise each trip.
"While TransNusa is a new airline for Melbourne Airport, it has been flying to Perth since early 2025 and understands how Australians like to travel.
"We’re pleased to welcome TransNusa to the Melbourne Airport family and happy to be able to offer holiday makers extra choice in time for summer.
"In the past year we've welcomed record numbers of international travellers and the opening of our new Pick Up and Drop Off areas next month will allow us to begin work on expanding the international terminal footprint out into the existing forecourt.
"We'll also build an additional five international gates, capable of accommodating up to eight narrowbody aircraft, which will allow airlines such as TransNusa to schedule more flights to the places people want to fly at the times they want to travel."
TransNusa Group Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Bernard Francis said that Melbourne-Bali said TransNusa is extremely proud to be working with Melbourne Airport to enhance and build the route further.
“We hope to provide passengers not just with a point-to-point flight route but a variety of connecting options that offers passengers a beyond Bali experience,” he said.
“From Bali, passengers will have options to connect to exciting island locations such as world class diving and coral reef destinations, Wakatobi and Manado, as well as other major destinations in the Asia Pacific region.”
Trans Nusa will start service to Melbourne Airport on October 19.
Passenger figures for August 2026:
| Passengers | August 2026 | August 2025 | Growth (%)* |
| International | 948,810 | 960,907 | -1.3% |
| Domestic | 1,993,717 | 2,029,573 | -1.8% |
| Total (excl. transits) | 2,942,527 | 2,990,480 | -1.6% |
*Monthly percentage growth compared to August 2025
Passenger figures for Financial Year to July
| Passengers | Financial Year 2026/27 | Financial Year 2025/26 | Growth (%)* |
| International | 1,963,336 | 2,003,429 | -2.0% |
| Domestic | 4,094,254 | 4,182,223 | -2.1% |
| Total (excl. transits) | 6,057,590 | 6,185,652 | -2.1% |
*percentage growth compared to FY 2025/26