Budget flights with Tigerair to Bali went from one day of cancellations to a permanent suspension in less than 24 hours.
The airline revealed on Twitter this afternoon that it will no longer operate flights between Australia and Indonesia effective immediately. The decision comes as it struggles to gain final approve on services from the Indonesian government.
The announcement comes almost a month after the low-cost carrier was forced to ground its Bali operations over a last minute administrative rule adjustment.
Tigerair has been working with authorities for over three weeks to solve the issue and was scheduled to resume normal operations today.
However, earlier this morning the carrier issued a mass text to passengers scheduled to fly on 3 February to and from Bali, advising them that their flights had been cancelled and they’d either be issued refunds or moved to a Virgin Australia service.
Although Tigerair hoped to resume flights tomorrow, it has now revealed that it was unable to reach an agreement with Indonesian leaders.
According to an online statement, the Southeast Asian leaders offered the low-cost carrier an alternative regulatory solution that would take up to six months for the airline to implement and would likely affect the airline’s fares.
“This solution would take at least six months to implement and would compromise the airline’s ability to offer low-cost airfares to travellers to Bali.”
Tigerair
“As a result of this development, Tigerair Australia has made the difficult decision to withdraw from flying between Australia and Bali permanently, effective today Friday 3 February 2017.”
The carrier has apologised to all affected customers for the inconvenience and said staff will “continue to work around the clock to support customers during this time”.
Customers booked to travel from Australia to Bali with Tigerair from 3 February 2017 onwards will be proactively contacted and offered full refunds which will be automatically processed (further details below).
Customers currently in Bali will also be contacted as soon as possible and offered re-accommodation options on Virgin Australia and other airlines.