Qantas Airways is opening a new nonstop link between Melbourne (MEL) and Jakarta (CGK) in April, becoming the airline’s third new international route out of the Australian airport since borders reopened.

Flights on the 5,208-km (2,812-nm) sector will be offered three times per week from April 16 using Airbus A330 aircraft. The service will become the carrier’s second to the Indonesian capital alongside its long-standing daily operations from Sydney.

The launch will see Qantas increase seats to and from Jakarta by more than 6,600 per month, which it said would support growing trade and tourism links between Australia and Indonesia. During 2018-19, two-way trade in goods and services was worth A$17.8 billion ($12.7 billion), making Indonesia Australia’s 13th largest trading partner.

“Victoria is an incredibly important part of our network and we’re seeing strong demand for travel to and from Melbourne,” Qantas domestic and international CEO Andrew David said.

“We expect these flights to be popular with Victoria’s large Indonesian expat community wanting to visit family and friends back home as well as offering a new gateway for travellers looking to explore the region.”

Qantas will provide direct competition for SkyTeam’s Garuda Indonesia in the Melbourne-Jakarta market. The Indonesian airline offers two flights per week at the present time using A330-300s.

According to Sabre data, total O&D traffic between Melbourne and Jakarta totaled some 104,000 two-way passengers in 2019—about 52% of whom traveled nonstop. Singapore (SIN) was the largest one-stop connecting market, followed by Sydney (SYD) and Bali (DPS).

The planned launch of the Jakarta service will become Qantas’ third new international destination from Melbourne since pandemic restrictions were relaxed. The carrier began flights to Delhi (DEL) in August 2022, with operations to Dallas-Fort Worth starting in December.