Virgin Australia ended years of local lobbying today by announcing Canberra’s first nonstop international route since 2020—a three-times-weekly service to Bali (Denpasar) that will commence on 22 June 2026 and run seasonally from April to January. Operating Boeing 737-800 aircraft configured with Business, Economy X and Economy cabins, the flights will leave Canberra mid-afternoon and return from Bali overnight, giving leisure and SME travellers a full first day on the island and same-day onward connections in Australia.
For mobility managers the development is more than a novel holiday option. Canberra has one of the country’s highest per-capita concentrations of federal agencies, defence contractors and multinationals, all of which currently route staff through Sydney or Melbourne for international trips. Direct lift cuts a minimum of three hours off the door-to-door journey and removes a domestic sector that often complicates compliant fare construction and duty-of-care tracking.
Canberra Airport’s chief executive Stephen Byron called the route “transformational”, noting that Virgin will add more than 40,000 seats per year and is already evaluating shoulder-season frequencies depending on demand. Virgin’s chief commercial officer Dave Emerson said the carrier negotiated Indonesian airport slots specifically to avoid peak curfew hours in Canberra and deliver reliable connections onward to the airline’s broader Bali network—including services to Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Gold Coast—so travellers from other capitals can now reach Bali via the national capital.
![Virgin Australia to Launch Canberra–Bali Flights, Bringing First International Service to ACT]()
Visa processing support can now be handled seamlessly too. Through VisaHQ’s Australia portal (https://www.visahq.com/australia/), individual travellers and corporate travel managers can arrange Indonesia’s e-VOA online in minutes, track application status in real time and receive alerts on any policy updates—removing another administrative barrier to capitalising on the new nonstop service.
Practical implications are immediate. Sale fares launched at A$399 return (Economy Lite) until 3 February, likely stimulating leisure demand. Corporate programmes, meanwhile, gain a second Australian operator on the Bali route (after Jetstar) at sharper price points than Qantas codeshares out of Sydney. Travellers must still obtain an Indonesian e-VOA (currently IDR 500,000) or meet visa-free conditions once proposed fee waivers are confirmed later this year.
The move underscores a broader 2026 trend: secondary Australian gateways vying for international connectivity as consumer confidence rebounds and airlines search for midsize markets with strong inbound VFR and outbound leisure segments. Mobility teams should review preferred-carrier agreements, update booking tool city-pair restrictions and issue traveller comms on new visa and health requirements for Bali.
For mobility managers the development is more than a novel holiday option. Canberra has one of the country’s highest per-capita concentrations of federal agencies, defence contractors and multinationals, all of which currently route staff through Sydney or Melbourne for international trips. Direct lift cuts a minimum of three hours off the door-to-door journey and removes a domestic sector that often complicates compliant fare construction and duty-of-care tracking.
Canberra Airport’s chief executive Stephen Byron called the route “transformational”, noting that Virgin will add more than 40,000 seats per year and is already evaluating shoulder-season frequencies depending on demand. Virgin’s chief commercial officer Dave Emerson said the carrier negotiated Indonesian airport slots specifically to avoid peak curfew hours in Canberra and deliver reliable connections onward to the airline’s broader Bali network—including services to Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Gold Coast—so travellers from other capitals can now reach Bali via the national capital.
Visa processing support can now be handled seamlessly too. Through VisaHQ’s Australia portal (https://www.visahq.com/australia/), individual travellers and corporate travel managers can arrange Indonesia’s e-VOA online in minutes, track application status in real time and receive alerts on any policy updates—removing another administrative barrier to capitalising on the new nonstop service.
Practical implications are immediate. Sale fares launched at A$399 return (Economy Lite) until 3 February, likely stimulating leisure demand. Corporate programmes, meanwhile, gain a second Australian operator on the Bali route (after Jetstar) at sharper price points than Qantas codeshares out of Sydney. Travellers must still obtain an Indonesian e-VOA (currently IDR 500,000) or meet visa-free conditions once proposed fee waivers are confirmed later this year.
The move underscores a broader 2026 trend: secondary Australian gateways vying for international connectivity as consumer confidence rebounds and airlines search for midsize markets with strong inbound VFR and outbound leisure segments. Mobility teams should review preferred-carrier agreements, update booking tool city-pair restrictions and issue traveller comms on new visa and health requirements for Bali.
