Tigerair has been given four days to fly home as many stranded Aussies in Bali as possible despite having its Indonesia flight suspension extended by seven days.
The grounding of the budget carrier’s operations in the Southeast Asian country came into place on Wednesday night after what was described as a last minute administrative change by the Indonesian government.
Some 1,700 travellers have been affected by the suspension so far, however, a four-day cooling off period will allow the airline to fly some 2,000 of its guests in Bali back to Australia.
The airline said it is working with Indonesian authorities to resolve the issue, which occurred after a last minute policy change.
According to reports, the airline had a 12-month agreement with Indonesia that allowed the airline to lease planes and crew from its parent company, Virgin Australia.
The low-cost carrier was allowed to sell airfares in Australia as return flights to Bali, but was not allowed to sell flights within Indonesia to any of the Australian destinations.
However, recently the agreement was moved from the department that handles commercial services to the one that manages charter areas, which changed the rules of the agreement.
Rob Sharp, Tigerair’s Chief Executive, told media that the airline is in compliance with the original agreement and is working with authorities to resolve the issue.
“We are not proposing any changes to the agreement – we are operating under the same approval we have been for the last 8 months.”
Rob Sharp, Tigerair Australia Chief Executive
Tigerair apologised for the inconvenience to passengers and is doing everything to support them during the suspension.
Customers will be contacted with refund details.
In the meantime, 11 flights from Bali to Australia have been scheduled from today until Monday to bring home stranded Aussies. Click here for flight details.