Flying to Bali in 2026: New Routes, New Baggage Rules
Getting to Bali got easier in 2026, and slightly fussier at the same time. Starlux Airlines opens a direct Taipei to Denpasar route on 1 October, five flights a week on an A321neo. Garuda Indonesia switched from weight-based to piece-based checked baggage on 1 September, so most international economy passengers now get two bags of 23kg rather than one combined allowance. And InJourney Airports, which runs Ngurah Rai, opened 53 new Indonesian routes between January and April alone.
Three changes, three different effects on your trip. Here is what actually shifted, and what it means if Canggu is where you are headed.
Starlux flies Taipei to Bali from 1 October 2026
The headline route of the year. Starlux, Taiwan's boutique carrier, begins direct Taipei to Denpasar service on 1 October 2026 with five weekly flights on an Airbus A321neo.
The schedule is worth reading properly:
JX765 departs Taipei Taoyuan at 10:10 and lands in Denpasar at 15:40
JX766 departs Denpasar at 17:20 and arrives back in Taipei at 22:50
Operating days: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday
That 15:40 arrival is the quiet part of the story. Bali's arrivals hall has two crush windows, the early-morning bank of long-haul flights from Europe and the Gulf, and the late-evening wave out of Australia and East Asia. Mid-afternoon is neither. You clear immigration faster, your driver is not waiting three hours, and you reach Padonan in daylight.
The bigger point is connectivity. Taipei is a genuine hub for North American traffic, which means a West Coast traveller can now run LAX to TPE to DPS without the usual Singapore or Doha detour. Bali has spent years being awkward to reach from the Americas. This chips away at that.
Garuda's baggage rules changed on 1 September
If you booked a Garuda flight in the last week, read this bit twice. From 1 September 2026, Garuda Indonesia moved from the old weight concept, where your total combined kilos were what counted, to a piece-based system.
The new allowances:
International economy: two checked pieces at up to 23kg each, 46kg total
International business: up from 40kg to 64kg
International first: up from 50kg to 64kg
Domestic economy: one checked piece at up to 23kg
Domestic business and first: two pieces at up to 32kg each
For most people this is an upgrade. Business class travellers gained 24kg. Economy passengers on international routes gained a genuinely useful second bag.
The trap is the per-piece cap. Under the old system, one 30kg suitcase was fine if your total sat under the limit. It is not fine now. Each piece has to come in under 23kg on its own, so a single overpacked case triggers an excess charge even when your overall load is well inside 46kg. Split it into two.
The rule counts pieces now, not kilos. A single 30kg suitcase costs you money that two 23kg bags would not.
One more detail that catches people out: the policy applies to tickets issued on or after 1 September 2026, for travel starting on or after that date. If your ticket was issued in August, you keep the old allowance printed on it, even if you fly in December.
53 new routes, and the rest of what opened up
InJourney Airports, the state operator formerly known as Angkasa Pura, runs 37 airports across Indonesia including Ngurah Rai. Its president director Mohammad R. Pahlevi confirmed 53 new routes launched between January and April 2026, a 15 percent increase on the 46 added over the same period in 2025.
A few worth knowing about if you are building a longer Indonesia trip around your villa stay:
Garuda opened Denpasar to Timika in May, one of the mainland gateways to Papua
IndiGo runs direct Mumbai to Denpasar, currently around eight flights a week
Air India flies Delhi to Denpasar daily, with Mumbai passengers connecting through Delhi
Greater Bay Airlines is planning a Hong Kong to Surabaya route, useful for Java-then-Bali itineraries
The traffic numbers back it up. More than 4.5 million passengers passed through Ngurah Rai between January and April 2026, over 10 percent up on the same stretch of 2025.
Honest caveat, because nobody else will say it: more routes does not mean cheaper fares. Load factors into Bali are high and getting higher. New capacity on the Taipei and India corridors mostly relieves those specific markets. If you are flying from Sydney in July, this changes nothing about your ticket price.
What the airport is doing about the queues
Ngurah Rai Immigration has been fairly open about the pressure. Its head of office, Bugie Kurniawan, has pointed to autogates, the Online Indonesia application and e-visa services as the fix, and the push is to get more arrivals using them rather than joining the manual counter line.
Practical version: sort your e-visa and your tourist levy before you fly. Doing the paperwork at 06:00 in a queue after a ten-hour flight is a choice, and a bad one. We wrote a full breakdown of the levy and how to pay it in advance in our guide to the Bali tourist levy.
From the runway to Padonan
Landing is the easy half. Ngurah Rai to Padonan, the quiet pocket of northern Canggu where both Evarah villas sit, runs about 45 minutes on a clean midday road and closer to 90 in Friday evening traffic. Arriving mid-afternoon on the Starlux slot puts you at the villa gate before sunset, which is the whole argument for that flight.
Airport pickup rules still favour a pre-booked driver over hailing a ride at the kerb. We go through the options, the real costs and the traps in our honest Bali airport transfer guide. Guests staying at Villa Zoya or Nomad House can have the whole thing arranged through our concierge before they board.
Bali flight questions people actually ask
When does the Starlux Taipei to Bali flight start?
1 October 2026. Starlux operates five weekly flights on an Airbus A321neo, departing Taipei at 10:10 and landing in Denpasar at 15:40 on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays.
What is Garuda Indonesia's new baggage allowance in 2026?
From 1 September 2026 Garuda uses a piece-based system. International economy gets two checked bags of up to 23kg each, business and first both get 64kg, domestic economy gets one bag of up to 23kg. Each individual bag must stay under its own weight cap.
Are there direct flights from India to Bali?
Yes. IndiGo flies Mumbai to Denpasar direct, around eight times a week, and Air India operates a daily Delhi to Denpasar service. Mumbai passengers on Air India connect via Delhi rather than flying direct.
Is Bali airport getting busier in 2026?
Noticeably. More than 4.5 million passengers used Ngurah Rai between January and April 2026, more than 10 percent up on the same period in 2025. Arriving outside the early-morning and late-evening peaks makes a real difference to how long you spend in the terminal.
Land in the afternoon. Be in the pool by five.
However you get here, the last 45 minutes matter most. Evarah Collection runs two design-led villas in Padonan, northern Canggu, both with three bedrooms, a private pool, an outdoor bar and daily housekeeping. Villa Zoya leans Mediterranean, all warm plaster and a double-height living room. Nomad House is brutalist concrete and glass with the jungle pushed right up against it. Both sleep six, and both are a five-minute walk from coffee and 17 minutes from Berawa beach.
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