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Bali nine death row inmates Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran have left Denpasar airport in a chartered civilian plane shadowed by two Sukhoi fighter jets.
They departed at 7am, local time, bound for Nusakambangan island, the place where they are to be executed by firing squad.
The development comes amid signs of a breakdown in communication between the Indonesian and Australian governments, with Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop admitting there had been no official confirmation from Indonesian officials that a transfer was going to take place.
The extraordinary security measures reflect concerns about an unspecified threat but also show how the execution of the pair has been swept up by nationalist fervour and turned into a spectacle.
The Australians were accompanied by a large contingent of members of the elite paramilitary police, known as Brimob, on the Wings Air jet.
They were also accompanied by the man formally in charge of the transfer, Bali's chief prosecutor Momock Bambang Samiarso.
Chan and Sukumaran will fly to Cilacap, the port town near the prison island of Nusakambangan, a journey that will take about one hour
Heavy military guard
Chan and Sukumaran were taken from Kerobokan prison under heavy military guard in the early hours of Wednesday.
They were driven through the gates of Kerobokan in a Wolf armoured personnel carrier. They were followed by police in a Barracuda armoured vehicle.
Streets were blocked off and two buses of crowd-control police carrying riot shields and batons were deployed along with a contingent of military. A water cannon was stationed outside the prison in case of trouble.
The Australians were taken to Denpasar airport. It was earlier reported they would be flown in Hercules and CN295 military planes, one for the prisoners and their guards, one for security personnel.
Girlfriend in tears
Andrew Chan's brother Michael said he was struggling to comprehend the enormity of the transfer of his brother to the place of his execution, expressing his disappointment at not being able to see his brother before he was moved out of Kerobokan.
"It was definitely disappointing," he told Fairfax Media. "We are just trying to digest it all.
"It was a last-minute thing and it was a gamble but, yeah, we hoped to see Andrew."
Mr Chan and Andrew's Indonesian girlfriend Febyanti Herewila, known as Feby, arrived at Kerobokan just after 5am local time, within 30 minutes of the transfer, marching through the police cordon and media presence.
Ms Herewila was in tears as they pleaded their case, trying to convince prison officials to let them enter the penitentiary, but were rebuffed.
Mr Chan said it was not unexpected but nonetheless upsetting that news of the transfer emerged only after he and Sukumaran's mother had left the prison on Tuesday.
Mr Chan is now frantically arranging a flight to Cilacap, the port town near Nusakambangan.
The families will be able to see the pair on the island.
Chan and Sukumaran were able to take only personal belongings with them to Nusakambangan.
Once at the penal island, the pair will be moved into specially prepared isolation cells and await news of when their executions will take place. They will be given 72 hours' notice before they meet the firing squad.
They will be shot dead alongside eight other drug felons in a mass execution, according to plans revealed so far.
While they wait, they will be allowed to meet their families, lawyers and receive comfort from religious figures.
Bishop not told of transfers
Ms Bishop said she was "utterly dismayed" to learn that the Australians were being moved from Kerobokan prison without all of their legal avenues having been exhausted.
She said Indonesian officials had still not informed the Australian government of the proposed date the executions would take place.
"They [Indonesian officials] are in touch with our consular officials in Bali," Ms Bishop said in an interview on Channel Nine's Today Show.
"We have not received any official information as to the proposed transfer of Mr Sukumaran or Mr Chan. I ... asked that the Australian government be kept informed."
Asked if there would be repercussions from the Australian government if the men were executed, Ms Bishop responded: "I am sure that Indonesia understands it will have consequences."
Ms Bishop said she was planning to speak to Chan and Sukumaran's families on Wednesday.
Abbott holds out hope
Prime Minister Tony Abbott said that, despite the movement outside Kerobokan prison early on Wednesday morning, he was still hopeful that Chan and Sukumaran would be given a reprieve.
"Even at the 11th hour, I hope that there might be a change of heart in Indonesia and these executions might be stopped," Mr Abbott said.
He said he continued to make representations to the Indonesian government that "this execution would be against their best interests, and it would be against their best values".
"The point that I've been making again and again is that, yes, these two men have done a terrible thing, but they've now been in jail for about a decade, and in that time they have been well and truly rehabilitated. So as things stand today, these two men are actually allies of the Indonesian government in its fight against drug crime.
"I know that Indonesia has a ... horrible, horrible drug problem, and I absolutely appreciate and accept Indonesia's desire to fight very hard indeed against their drug menace, but these two Australians are actually assets in the fight against drugs and that's why I think these executions make no sense whatsoever."
An Australian business delegation to Indonesia led by Trade Minister Andrew Robb planned for this month has been quietly shelved amid escalating tensions between the countries ahead of the executions.
Asked whether government ministers might be banned from travelling to Indonesia if the executions took place, Mr Abbott said: "I don't want to flag what might happen should these executions go ahead."
- with Megan Levy