Indonesia’s geography creates a routing problem with no single correct answer. The country spans over 5,000 kilometres from Sumatra to Papua across 17,000 islands, and nearly every major international itinerary benefits from flying in and out of different points. The practical question for most visitors is: are you primarily doing Bali, or are you routing through Bali as a hub to reach Java, Lombok, Flores, or the Gili Islands? The answer changes which airports matter and how to structure the long-haul entry.

Ngurah Rai International (DPS) in Bali is the primary international entry for the majority of visitors. It receives direct long-haul flights from Australia, Europe, and the Middle East, and connects to Garuda Indonesia’s domestic network to reach Lombok, Labuan Bajo (Flores), Yogyakarta, and Jakarta. Soekarno-Hatta International (CGK) in Jakarta is the larger hub and handles more overall passenger volume, but most leisure travellers flying in via Jakarta are there for the domestic connection rather than the city itself.

From London, economy return to Bali runs £600-£900 outside peak season. August and the Christmas-New Year period push this to £900-£1,300. Emirates via Dubai, Qatar via Doha, and Singapore Airlines via Singapore are the dominant carriers on the London-DPS corridor. Singapore Airlines consistently delivers one of the best overall inflight experiences at comparable price points to the Gulf carriers and is worth the comparison. Garuda Indonesia serves the route but has had reliability inconsistencies. Finnair via Helsinki occasionally surfaces interesting pricing on Aviasales. The November-January window is Bali’s dry season, which also happens to coincide with northern hemisphere winter departures — the demand-supply balance pushes fares up slightly but not dramatically.

From Sydney, Bali is one of the cheapest international flights available. Jetstar and AirAsia both fly direct Sydney-Denpasar at around AUD $250-$500 return, making it the de facto short-break destination for eastern Australia. Garuda Indonesia, Virgin Australia, and Qantas operate at the higher end of the same route (AUD $400-$700). The brevity of the journey (around six hours) makes Bali the one destination in this set where the budget LCC option is a completely straightforward choice.

The open-jaw strategy for Indonesia is Bali in, Jakarta out (or vice versa) for itineraries including both Java (Yogyakarta, Borobudur, Bromo) and Bali. The price difference versus a straight Bali return is typically small, and the itinerary logic is significantly cleaner. Aviasales handles this open-jaw search effectively and surfaces the Singapore Airlines and Qatar routings that the Garuda site underprices. Kiwi.com adds value specifically for the multi-island itinerary that involves combining an international leg with Garuda domestic sectors (Bali-Labuan Bajo for the Komodo dragon boats, for example) — it surfaces the combined pricing more cleanly than doing each search separately.

For Lombok, the KLIA Kuala Lumpur hub works well as a secondary connection — AirAsia flies London to KUL then KUL to Lombok Praya Airport (LOP) at prices competitive with the direct Bali alternatives. The four-hour ferry from Bali to Lombok is scenic and adequate if you have the time; the forty-five minute AirAsia flight is the practical choice for a two-week itinerary.