By James Wilkinson

Pacific Blue’s highly anticipated direct Bali flights from both Melbourne and Sydney have taken off for the first time.

Pacific Blue has taken off for Bali

Today (Jun 2), the first direct Melbourne-Denpasar flight took off at 3.20pm, while yesterday morning, the inaugural Sydney service was operated, marking the first time three airlines have operated on either route.

Pacific Blue, sister airline to Virgin Blue, has joined Garuda Indonesia and Jetstar in offering direct Denpasar flights from Australia’s two largest cities.

The airline will operate twice weekly services between Sydney and Bali on Mondays and Fridays; and three weekly services between Melbourne and Bali on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.

The move is another huge boost for the outbound MICE market to Bali, which has been gaining momentum in recent months, following the new flights, hotel refurbishments and additional room inventory.

Holiday Inn Resort Baruna Bali – the newest resort on the Indonesian holiday island – has a strong focus on the Australian market and general manager Stephane Varoquier told SpiceNews the new Pacific Blue flights would provide an important boost to Bali’s MICE market.

“The MICE market out of Australia is a key target for the resort this year,” he said.

The Pacific Blue flights are also welcome news for two other new properties with a conference and incentive travel focus, Karma Kandara in Uluwatu and the St Regis Bali Resort in Nusa Dua.