On the Perth-to-Bali route, travelers have several low-cost carrier options, with a new addition arriving in March. TransNusa will begin operations on this route on March 20. Despite its competitive pricing, some concerns have been raised about the airline.
One major concern is that TransNusa lacks the IOSA (IATA Operational Safety Audit) certification. Airlines on the IOSA registry consistently show better safety performance compared to non-registered airlines. Since 2005, IOSA-certified airlines have had an all-accident rate of 1.40 per million sectors, whereas non-IOSA airlines have a rate of 3.49 per million sectors. In 2022, IOSA-registered carriers outperformed non-registered ones by a factor of four (0.70 accidents per million sectors vs. 2.82 accidents per million sectors). This has led to calls for more regulators to incorporate IOSA into safety oversight programs.
Several Indonesian airlines like Garuda Indonesia, AirAsia Indonesia, Batik Air, Lion Air, and Wings Air are IOSA-certified. Citilink, owned by Garuda Indonesia, also falls under this category. Notably, AirAsia improved its safety standards significantly after not being IOSA-certified during a tragic accident in 2014 and has now made AirlineRatings’ World’s Safest Low-Cost Carrier list for 2025.