Batik Air has done a Bali backflip and reinstated its flights to the holiday paradise with out any fanfare.

Lion Air Group’s Batik Air reinstates Perth to Bali flights

Geoffrey ThomasPerthNow

Batik Air has done a Bali backflip and reinstated its flights to the holiday paradise with out any fanfare.

The airline — which started services to Perth last year — is owned by by the Lion Air Group and had been operating twice-daily flights to Denpasar.

However, recently, flights were cut to daily although reverted to twice daily over the holidays.

On December 13 an airline spokesman confirmed the cancellation of flights from January 31 citing “commercial reasons”.

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A local travel agent said that the airline’s loads had been low because it was trying to offer an up-market service.

ONLINE: See Batik Air’s product rating: https://www.airlineratings.com/ratings/batik-air/

Now the airline’s online booking system shows a daily flight (ID6008) to Bali leaving Perth at 8.30am and arriving in Denpasar at 12.10pm.

The return service (ID 6007) departs Denpasar at 8.40pm and arrives in Perth at 12.20am.

On October 31 the Federal Government took the unprecedented step of banning its staff from flying Lion Air and Batik Air after the crash of Lion Air flight JT610, in which 189 people died.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s ban included Lion Air’s subsidiaries Batik Air and Wings Air but not joint venture airline Malindo.

At the time DFAT said the ban would remain until the cause of the accident was known.

DFAT did not consult with Australia’s aviation safety watchdog, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority about the ban which it later rescinded.

The Perth to Bali route has proved very challenging for airlines.

OZjet, Sempati Air, Merpati Airlines and Air Paradise have all collapsed or withdrawn from the route over the past 20 years while Jetstar has replaced Qantas.

Virgin Australia operated on the route but withdrew being replaced by its subsidiary Tigerair before it was blocked in 2017 after Indonesian authorities revoked its operating certificate over minor technicalities.

Other airlines that have operated on the route include Cathay Pacific Airways which used it as a stop enroute to Hong Kong.

And the aircraft on the route have changed dramatically from spacious Qantas 747s to cramped 180-seat Boeing 737s or Airbus A320s.