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Wirraway
29th Dec 2002, 18:21
Mon "Melbourne Age" 30/12/02

Australians Bali-bound once more
December 30 2002
By Tiy Chung, David Adams

Australian tourists are starting to return to Bali in increasing numbers, despite government warnings that all non-essential travel to Indonesia should be deferred.

Qantas and Indonesian carrier Garuda have announced they will increase flights to the island in the next few months to meet extra demand.

Garuda plans to increase flights from Australia to Bali by March. The airline is also offering bonus frequent flyer points for Indonesians who fly to Denpasar this month or next.

In the past three weeks, Garuda has upgraded its capacity to Bali, replacing Airbus A330 aircraft with larger Boeing 747s.

Following the October 12 bombings, which killed more than 180 people, including 88 Australians, Garuda cut more than half its 13 weekly services to Australia's east coast.

Before the bombings there were four flights from Melbourne to Denpasar each week.

A Garuda spokesman, Kerry Timms, said the airline hoped to return to pre-October 12 capacity by the end of March.

Qantas flies from Sydney to Bali twice a week, but plans to increase flights and capacity in the next four months. The airline's weekly Melbourne-Denpasar direct flight is no longer available.

Qantas says its Bali flights leading up to Christmas were mostly full.

From February, an extra Qantas flight will leave Darwin for Bali. The airline also plans to add a weekly flight from Darwin and Perth. This will bring its services to Denpasar to half its pre-October 12 figure.