Komodo Kommando

Increases in flights to Indonesia's nature and diving hotspot - Labuan Bajo, Flores.

Visitors to the Mau Ke Mana page on Flight Memory (see banner above) would be surprised to discover that MKM's most popular route isn't one of the more popular routes like:

- Bali to Lombok: a 30 minute hop between two premier tourist destinations and often the cheapest flight available.

- Jakarta to Bali: a popular choice for visitors needing a rest or a domestic connection for their flight between Europe and Jakarta.

- Jakarta to Surabaya: the two most populous cities and the route with the greatest number of flights in Indonesia.

No, it's actually Bali to Labuan Bajo. How so?

As you can see above, Labuan Bajo has the nearest airport to Komodo Island, home of Indonesia's candidate for the New 7 Natural Wonders of the World: the komodo dragon. The airport was recently renamed Komodo Airport to highlight this. There are many different tour operators based in Labuan Bajo, so organising a tour to Komodo Island (or its neighbour Rinca Island) is not difficult.

Labuan Bajo is also justifiably famous as a centre for diving. There are many dive shops and resorts on and off-shore. You can pre-book a live-aboard before you come, or shop around and arrange it yourself upon arrival.

Finally, Labuan Bajo is often a starting point for a trek across Flores on the Trans-Flores Highway. Many visitors fly from Bali to Labuan Bajo, hire a car with driver/tour guide for a few days, then return to Bali from Maumere in East Flores.

Elsewhere in Flores there are also other natural tourist attractions such as:

- The history-changing Flores Hobbit Cave, near Ruteng.

- The inspirational multi-hued crater lakes of Mt Kelimutu, near Moni.

So it is a welcome development to see that Merpati Airlines now flies more frequently between Denpasar and Labuan Bajo. Before it flew daily; now it operates 10 flights/week.

Here is a list of flights between Bali and Labuan Bajo:

Airline
Departs Bali at:	Daily: 12:45 Tu, F, Su: 11:30	Tu, Th, Sa: 13:35	M, W, Th, Sa: 08:00 Tu, F: 07:00
Departs Labuan Bajo at:	Daily: 15:10 Tu, F, Su: 09:25	Tu, Th, Sa: 08:30	M, W, Sa: 16:30 Tu, F, Su: 08:35 Th: 09:35
Plane	Xian MA60	ATR72-500	BAe 146
Notes	Continues to Maumere	Continues to Ende	Good connection from Lombok

M = Monday, Tu = Tuesday, W = Wednesday, Th = Thursday, F = Friday, Sa = Saturday, Su = Sunday.
All three airlines have a free 15kg checked baggage allowance that isn't strictly enforced.

If you would like to visit Labuan Bajo and see some of Indonesia's amazing and unique natural beauty, click here to book a flight.

Komodo Kommando is brought to you by Indonesia Matters, where you can book flights in Indonesia, and features listings of Indonesian hotels, like Kuta hotels, Sanur hotels, hotels in Jakarta and near Jakarta airport, and more.

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