Thousands of Australians are believed to be stranded overseas due to “engineering requirements” resulting in dozens of Jetstar flights being cancelled.
Tens of flights in and out of Indonesia, Thailand and Japan have been cancelled in recent days, with as many as 4000 Australians believed to be stranded in Bali alone.
Dominic Buick has told 3AW his family have experienced multiple flight cancellations since Wednesday, August 31 and have been unable to leave Bali.
“I’ve got two young kids that need to get back to school, my wife needs to get back to work, we need to get back home again,” he told Neil Mitchell on 3AW.
Buick said Jetstar had booked them flights home on Friday night, but that his family could not risk waiting that long to risk being cancelled on again.
He has resorted to booking a flight home with Virgin airlines at a cost of $900 per ticket.
Buick said Jetstar would not offer him compensation for the delays because he had booked with another airline.
Dawid van Tubbergh was supposed to fly home to Melbourne from Bangkok yesterday but was told on Saturday night that his flight had been cancelled.
The soonest flight that Jetstar have been able to offer him is on Friday night – six days after he was meant to return home.
The airline has offered to compensate him up to around $40 for food and $160 for accommodation each day.
Van Tubbergh has told 9news.com.au he is not too bothered by being delayed in the holiday destination, seeing as he is enjoying paid accommodation and his employer understands he is not at fault.
Meanwhile many other Australians are stuck at home and unable to fly to their destinations.
Melbourne Airport is packed with travellers unsure if they are going on holiday.
Many have taken to social media to complain their annual leave and holiday bookings are going to waste.
“Is our flight from Sydney to Bali on September 7 going to be cancelled, too? Who pays for the bookings we’ve made in Bali?” one customer has posted on Twitter.
Jetstar has said the delays are a result of “engineering requirements”.
“We sincerely apologise for the frustration and inconvenience this disruption has caused our customers,” the airline said in a statement to 9News.
“Our teams are looking at every option to get passengers on their way as soon as possible, including seats on Qantas flights and operating ad hoc services where possible.
“A flight credit or refund will also be made available to passengers who no longer wish to travel.”
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