No way home as stranded passengers wait on news

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This was published 12 years ago

No way home as stranded passengers wait on news

By Georgia Wilkins
Bewildered passengers wait in vain to board their flight at Phuket. Photo: theage.com.au reader Yves Makhoul.

Bewildered passengers wait in vain to board their flight at Phuket. Photo: theage.com.au reader Yves Makhoul.

Stranded passengers trying to fly home on failed airline Air Australia waited at the departure gate for hours last night before they were eventually moved on by Thai authorities to make way for the next flight.

Passengers believe they even saw the pilot and stewards that would have staffed the cancelled flight from Thailand leave and board another flight around the time when the airline announced it had gone into administration.

And that was four hours before the waiting passengers were told anything.

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Yves Makhoul was due to fly back to Melbourne on the Phuket flight scheduled for 7pm Thai time. He said passengers were told the flight was delayed due to "technical difficulties" until midnight (4am Melbourne time).

"First it was delayed half an hour, then another hour, then another hour after that," he said by phone when contacted by Fairfax.

"Thai authorities originally told us that there was a problem with the fuel, that it was leaking.

"At about 8pm, people saw the pilot and stewards leaving on a different plane," he said.

The airline was grounded and all flights suspended when the company went into administration at 1.30am eastern daylight time.

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Mr Makhoul said at no point did the airline inform passengers what was going on, and that it wasn't until Thai authorities told them they had to leave the airport that they knew their flight was not taking off.

"Thai authorities told us we had to leave the gate area at midnight because another flight was coming in," he said.

"There was a piece of paper that they gave out, but a lot of people didn't get it and it wasn't announced properly."

The piece of paper was a 'list of Frequently Asked Questions' that instructed passengers on what to do now that the airline had gone bankrupt.

It included the question "I have a booking – what happens now?" which was answered, "The flight will not take place. You should make alternate arrangements."

Daily deals website Scoopon, which last year sold return Melbourne-Phuket flights for $599, said today that it had set up a team to help customers stuck overseas.

Scoopon said 2001 coupons were sold for travel between July 20 last year and May 31. The Melbourne-Phuket flight was listed on its website as having been worth $2298.

The company said it had a representative at Phuket Airport who would help passengers with meals and accommodation.

“We are currently assessing the situation to see how many of our customers are affected by the closure of Air Australia, and will be posting regular updates on the Scoopon Help Centre and on our social media pages, throughout the day,” Scoopon’s executive general manager Jared Baker said in a statement this morning.

“First and foremost our concerns are with our customers who have been stranded in Phuket and ensuring that they looked after.”

Mr Makhoul said passengers were forced to find their own accommodation and return flights, including young children who were unaccompanied and unassisted.

He said his Air Australia flight two weeks earlier to Phuket was branded as an Atlas Air, a carrier that rents aircraft from other airlines to reduce the financial burden on their owners.

Caller Katerina told radio station 3AW that she and about 300 other passengers booked on the Air Australia flight due to arrive in Melbourne from Phuket this morning learnt at midnight the airline had gone bankrupt.

"They gave us a letter on Air Australia letterhead saying that they had gone into administration and pretty much find ’your own way home’,’’ she said.

Another stranded passenger, Sarah McGavin, said travellers at Phuket were originally told little about what was going on.

"We have been told that the flight was delayed twice and then nothing for several hours," she told the Nine Network.

"Then we had passengers go up and ask, the rumour mill went around that they had gone into administration."

She said that she had managed to get another flight back to Melbourne, but others were not so lucky.

"Three friends that I am travelling with now have to leave the airport to an internet cafe and they’re not flying out for another 48 hours. It’s costing a lot of money,’’ she said.

Aaron O’Brien was supposed to be flying to Melbourne from Brisbane on Air Australia for a wedding with three friends and his mates will now be missing the wedding.

“It was a case of they couldn’t afford to spend $600 on return flights with Qantas,” he said.

“I stumped up the cash but it’s not a good situation.”

Mr O’Brien said they booked the flights in December and he also flew with Air Australia in January calling it “the worst flying experience of my life”.

“I’m not really surprised they went bust,” he said.

“In January I was flying back from Bali with them and they didn’t open the ticketing until an hour before the flight was supposed to leave, the line was out the door.

“Then when I got on the flight they had booked me in to 12F seat and booked another guy in the same seat.

“I also paid extra for leg room because I’m a tall guy and they just gave me a normal seat, so that was $50 wasted.

“But I booked this flight with them before I had my bad experience.”

With Bridie Jabour

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