Queensland has been hard at work getting new airlines and flights to serve its airports. The Australian state has been offering subsidies to airlines willing to open new routes and connect it to new destinations. This strategy has brought various airlines to setup services to and from Queensland’s airport. What remains to be seen in coming years is if the newly established routes will remain active even when the subsidies inevitably will eventually dry up. However, that is a topic for another post. Today’s topic is related to what I just talked about as Air Asia has just launched its latest network expansion with a direct non-stop flight from Bali to Cairns.
About Air Asia’s New Bali to Cairns Flight
It is quite a peculiar route to say the least. Two tropical destinations connected with a non-stop Air Asia flight. The clear intent of the airline is to intercept leisure passengers heading to Bali for a holiday.
The Indonesian Island of Bali is among Australians favourite holiday destinations. Therefore, it overall makes sense to offer flights to Australian cities for an airline like Air Asia. What I’m less certain about is whether the flight is actually sustainable. Three weekly services are quite a large number for a city such as Cairns which has a tiny population of 153.000 people.
It is unlikely that the airline will make much money on transporting cargo as I doubt there is much demand between Bali and Cairns. Also, the plane chosen a single aisle Airbus A320 doesn’t even allow to carry much cargo. So, it does make you think that this flight might be just a good chance for Air Asia to test the market, and if subsidised, without too much of a monetary risk.
Air Asia Flight QZ542 From Bali to Cairns Timings and Schedule
Flights have already commenced on Air Asia between Bali (Denpasar) and Cairns. Flight QZ542 has been active since August 15th 2024 with tickets also available for purchase.
The flight, as mentioned above, has a three times weekly frequency with flights active on:
- Wednesday
- Friday
- Sunday
As for the timing on the way down from Bali to Cairns QZ542 is the most classic of redeye overnight flights with a 23:45 departure. The return flight on the other hand is quite convenient as you land, local time, just 2 hours 40 minutes after departure. That means you have a full day to enjoy in Bali. Here’s though the full schedule of the new QZ542 flight:
| Flight | From | To | Departure | Arrival | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QZ542 | Denpasar (DPS) | Cairns (CNS) | 23:45 | 06:25+1 | W-F-Su |
| QZ543 | Cairns (CNS) | Denpasar (DPS) | 07:05 | 09:45 | Th-Sa-M |
The plane is an Airbus A320 for the 4-hour 20-minute flight from Bali to Queensland. These planes are fitted with an all-economy class configuration with either 180 or 186 seats with only some extra legroom seats.