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Virgin Australia challenges Qantas Group’s application for Indonesia capacity
October 26th 2026
Virgin Australia (VA) is seeking traffic rights for 5,086 more seats per week on flights between Australia and Indonesia. Read More » The Australian carrier’s application to the country’s International Air Services Commission (IASC) details plans to add more flights to Bali from Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, as well as launch a new Perth-Bali offering. "The proposed services will be operated by Virgin Australia using 737 MAX 8 aircraft configured with 182 seats," VA said in its application. VA’s bid followed Qantas Group’s application to the IASC to add about 4,500 more seats a week on flights between Australia and Indonesia. Qantas and VA are seeking to add more flights to Indonesia following the recent announcement the Australia and Indonesia governments had agreed to expand the pair’s bilateral air services agreement by providing 5,000 more seats to airlines of both countries. Prior to the recent update of the air service agreement, there was no available capacity for Australian airlines to expand flying to Indonesia from the four major Australian cities - Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney - with the then-available 25,000 available seats per week fully utilised. Indonesian airlines are using about 60% of their available 30,000 seats. The IASC said it had contacted Qantas Group and VA inviting them to address the public benefits of their applications, with responses due by November 5.
