Qantas cuts Bali flights after attack

Qantas cuts Bali flights after attack

SYDNEY: Qantas Airways Ltd., Australia's biggest airline, will suspend some flights to the Indonesian resort island of Bali from next month after demand dropped following the Oct. 1 suicide bombings that killed 23 people.

Qantas's Australian Airlines carrier will halt services from Perth and Melbourne to Bali from Nov. 10 to Jan. 29, the Sydney- based company said in a statement e-mailed to Bloomberg News over the weekend after the close of trade.

"We have taken this decision in line with the decrease in demand for Bali following the bombings on Oct. 1," Australian Airlines Chief Executive Andrea Staines said in the statement.

Suspected suicide bombers killed 20 people, including four Australians, earlier this month on the eve of the third anniversary of the 2002 terrorist attacks in Kuta that killed 88 Australians. Following the bombings, Australia's government warned citizens not to travel to Indonesia.

Australian Airlines will continue its Sydney to Bali service, which flies three times a week and lands at the island's capital, Denpasar. Qantas's full-service carrier will also maintain its Darwin and Denpasar route, which flies twice a week. -- Bloomberg