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Recently in the press, there have been two announcements of some incredibly long-haul routes in the world, Singapore to Lost Angeles and London to Sydney on Qantas. One destination in the world that is becoming increasingly popular, but is rarely serviced by direct flights, is the island paradise of Bali (Specifically, Denpasar).

Bali is one of the larger islands on the Indonesian archipelago, notoriously known for its volcanic eruptions and being a gateway to Lombok (A surfers paradise), Komodo (Home of the named dragons) and the magical Gili islands.

To get to Bali from London currently, there are a variety of ways:

The Budget Way: Norwegian from London Gatwick to Singapore, then fly onto Bali on Indonesian AirAsia.

Norwegian from London Gatwick to Singapore, then fly onto Bali on Indonesian AirAsia. Via Malaysia: Malaysian Airways from London Heathrow to Kula Lumpur, then onto Bali.

Malaysian Airways from London Heathrow to Kula Lumpur, then onto Bali. Via the Gulf: Emirates from London Heathrow to Dubai, then onto Bali.

Emirates from London Heathrow to Dubai, then onto Bali. The Fastest way: Singapore Airways from London Heathrow to Singapore, then onto Bali.

The fastest route being via Singapore, at 16 hours and 35 minutes. The cheapest price found was $371 USD (And taking 24 hours and 44 minutes) and the best price (Price vs Speed/Transfers) with one stop being $939 USD. There are no direct flights.

So why is there not any direct flights?

Naturally one would ask if this question is absurd, but with more tourists travelling there every year, and other odd direct flights existing (Such as the British Airways London Heathrow to Durban South Africa), perhaps it is not so far fetched.

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How would a direct flight work?

Let us imagine for a moment that we were in charge of setting up a direct route from London to Bali for holidaymakers looking to escape the winter snows of the northern hemisphere. Where would we begin?

We need to decide on the type of plane. As the distance between the two locations is roughly 12500km (6760 nautical miles), we will need a plane that can fly 13-15 hours non-stop to make the direct journey. The plane would also need to be large enough to justify a good ticket price. An A380 could fly the distance, but apparently, the taxiways in Bali are not yet wide enough.

Bigger issues arise with taxiways – the A380’s ‘turning circle’ is larger than that of a 747 and therefore quite extensive taxiway works will be required at many airports.

That example also does not take into account the demand for the route, so perhaps we are a bit overzealous considering an A380. So what about a Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner? It is already used effectively on the London to Perth route by Qantas. Or alternatively the Airbus A350, which is likewise considered for the London to Sydney route.

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Who would fly the route?

Below are some ideal airlines that could potentially fly this route:

British Airways – Already the flagship of the UK, BA could easily have direct flights to Bali. With their large Europe wide network, they would have the customers available to go.

– Already the flagship of the UK, BA could easily have direct flights to Bali. With their large Europe wide network, they would have the customers available to go. Finnair – With their hub already located the closest to Asia, Finnair could compete effectively by shuttling passengers through Helsinki, before making the shorter flight to Bali (At only 5800 nautical miles, it would shave an hour or two off, making it more palatable to customers)

– With their hub already located the closest to Asia, Finnair could compete effectively by shuttling passengers through Helsinki, before making the shorter flight to Bali (At only 5800 nautical miles, it would shave an hour or two off, making it more palatable to customers) Singapore – With their hub close to Bali already, it would not be a big effort for them to have a direct holiday service between the two destinations. However, they love to funnel all their flights through Singapore and I can see passengers opting to not have a layover if possible.

– With their hub close to Bali already, it would not be a big effort for them to have a direct holiday service between the two destinations. However, they love to funnel all their flights through Singapore and I can see passengers opting to not have a layover if possible. Norwegian – They have the planes, the Dreamliner, and have experience running to south-east Asia (Currently flying to Bangkok). Many passengers are flying for a cheap destination and would love to fly as cheapy as possible. It seems like a natural extension for the airline.

– They have the planes, the Dreamliner, and have experience running to south-east Asia (Currently flying to Bangkok). Many passengers are flying for a cheap destination and would love to fly as cheapy as possible. It seems like a natural extension for the airline. Qantas – They already fly plenty of passengers to Bali from Australia, but what about a different leg from London to Bali, then onto Australia? They already have the infrastructure at all three airports, the aircraft, the experience and could easily slide in another service.

Is there a business case for it?

So we know that it’s technically possible, but does it make financial sense?

“The majority of tourists visiting Bali come from Australia, China, Japan, the UK, and India,” – Head of BPS Bali, Adi Nugroho

In 2016, Bali had more tourists than they had expected, smashing their 4.4 million yearly prediction. Naturally, only 203,000 tourists came from the UK, but that could still justify a few direct flights a week from a carrier. Plus, if the airline selected had a network throughout Europe (like British Airways), they could easily offer to ferry passengers together to London before the main flight.

Knowing that a majority of the new tourist trade is coming from China in 2017 (over 20%), perhaps we have it wrong and should be focusing on direct routes from Indonesia’s northern neighbour.

What do you think? Who would you like to fly with direct to Bali?