Garuda Indonesia (GA, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) is developing Denpasar into a secondary international hub serving eastern Indonesia, according to a report by the state-owned news agency Antara. The strategy focuses on funnelling international traffic to destinations in Indonesia's Papua region.

The state-owned carrier launched a Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta-Denpasar-Tembagapura-Jayapura service, which operates 4x weekly with a B737-800, on March 29, 2026.

"We are maximising Denpasar's role as an international hub integrated with eastern Indonesia, particularly Papua," Garuda Indonesia official Rendra Maha Putera told the news agency.

Per ch-aviation data, Garuda Indonesia connects Denpasar with 10 destinations, including Melbourne Airport, Seoul Incheon, Singapore Changi, Surabaya, Sydney Kingsford Smith, Tokyo Narita, and Yogyakarta International. However, the airline's capacity from the Bali airport remains much lower than from Jakarta - 20,821 scheduled weekly departure seats compared to 112,832 from the main base. Sister low-cost carrier Citilink also operates flights from Denpasar to Dili, as well as domestic destinations, such as Jakarta Halim and Makassar.