Hundreds Of Phuket Passengers Stranded As Air Australia Goes Bust

[Konini]

Hawian Airlines have offered the stranded passengers flights to Australia at $300 AUD including taxes.

Ahem. That's about the same amount that Qantas charge for taxes and surcharges.

[atsiii]

Yea, Russian Tour company goes bankrupt and stands hundreds of tourists; Aussie Airline goes bankrupt and strands hundreds of tourists: it's a good thing that the TAT assures everyone that tourism in Thailand is going great and numbers are increasing--or one might just be a bit worried!

[Kripe]

very sad about this news, I flew when it was Strategic a few times business class and it was excellent both in service ,cabin and price...

No wonder they go bankrupt, if you sell tickets at a price lower than the operating cost there are only one way!!! All of you out there hunting the cheap tickets, you put your self at risk.The low cost carriers are giving the well established a hard time, they sell below cost - customers that are not willing to pay what it actual cost to fly will fly with them instead of the carriers that know what this business is about - they go bankrupt and you are stranded, that is just bad luck.

Start to fly at cost and you will not end up in situations like this!!!

FYI: a tire replacement on an aircraft is approximately 3500$ * 6 and they last for 200 landings, jet fuel wary from country to country 3,43$/USG in Phuket (JAN) or more than 10$/USG in Germany - on top of this there are all the other expenses :-)

Low cost should be illegal - if it was you were not stranded.

[laurentbkk]

I wish I could had the same media coverage when I was stranded at Dubai airport when the yellow shirts blocked the airport in Bangkok .

[Kripe]

The Australian Govt. will in all probability not bail out AA. They look like they will have to give Toyota millions more to stay here , GM are in trouble, Ford are in trouble and others.the Govt cannot help everyone who goes belly up.A travel agent once told me that if you can afford the trip overseas you can afford the insurance...wise words.

The government should of course not bail out AA, they fly with every seat occupied - unfortunately they forgot to charge the customers for their services. no one can do business like that and why should the government and the Australian tax payers support the tourists that are not willing to pay the price?

[airconsult]

I wish I could had the same media coverage when I was stranded at Dubai airport when the yellow shirts blocked the airport in Bangkok .

You might be interested to know that a civil damages suit from AOT against PAD was successful (sorry, can't find the link right now) but if I remember correctly they were awarded over 200 million THB - not nearly enough, and they have no expectation of being able to collect it...... but at least the court awarded it against the official PAD leaders. I notice the cynicism from international insurers (of the airlines) who have not bothered to sue PAD for their losses, neither have the uninsured/not covered airlines. It may surprise people, but the direct damages to the airport and airlines (not counting hotels, etc) was close to 2 billion thb per day.

Cheers

[Kripe]

Seeing that aircraft on the ground in Phuket and not able to pay the fuel bills to fly home. Does that mean the Thai's get themselves a nice new aircraft to play with?

No it means that the aircraft leasing company sends a recovery agent that pays all costs necessary to have the plain released. then it has to retain legal counsel in thailand and seize the plane. It can take time to execute the paperwork. In the meantime the ground fees add up. All of these costs are added to the unpaid lease payments. If the leasing company is lucky, it can sell the aircraft or lease it out again in a few months. In the meantime, the leasing company takes a financial loss, which it then tries to pass on to new clients through interest rates or charges. it also takes the loss against its profits if it has made any. If there were profits the loss reduces the taxes paid by the leasing company.

Please increase the parking fee in the airport untill the aircrafts are gone :-)

[Kripe]

Hawian Airlines have offered the stranded passengers flights to Australia at $300 AUD including taxes.

Ahem. That's about the same amount that Qantas charge for taxes and surcharges.

Maybe Hawian is the next in line....

[airconsult]

"TO SOME, insolvency guru Mark Korda is Dr Death, ... "

You get what you pay for..

Cheap, so-called "budget airlines" have been the cancer of the industry. Until the tumor is removed, and the "I want everything for nothing" attitude has been eradicated, there will be no cure.

Assuming that all those stranded passengers are literate, they can't claim total innocence. Their predicament is their own doing. ...

Have you ever heard that one .. "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't." ... ?

Error contains the seed of it's own destruction.

Just a thought - instead of cancer - there has been one good part about low-cost carriers and people... to point out the government and airport levied taxes and charges.

Serious - I have worked in the industry for a very long time, and in the past, pax had no idea. Let's take a quick sample locally - BKK (suvarnabhumi) departure tax is officially 700thb - but that is essentially the fee for walking through the terminal - the airline is still paying a gate fee (or standoff fee), a customs charge, an ATC charge - and then there are the regulatory costs, such as making sure the passenger manifest is communicated, the engineering data commnicated, ok's recv, weather conditions recvd, the flight planning charge (outsourced or inhouse), satellite data service charges (for engineering data from the plane, and pilot comms if necessary).... on and on and on.

I have seen operators of domestic airlines go grey when we had first consultations on moving to intl routes and the compliances involved.

It's a good thing for people to have some view into what the relevant governments and airports charge.

Cheers

[Orac]

Yea, Russian Tour company goes bankrupt and stands hundreds of tourists; Aussie Airline goes bankrupt and strands hundreds of tourists: it's a good thing that the TAT assures everyone that tourism in Thailand is going great and numbers are increasing--or one might just be a bit worried!

Didn't the Russian government stump up the money in the end to cover repatriation of tourists???

[airconsult]

Seeing that aircraft on the ground in Phuket and not able to pay the fuel bills to fly home. Does that mean the Thai's get themselves a nice new aircraft to play with?

No it means that the aircraft leasing company sends a recovery agent that pays all costs necessary to have the plain released. then it has to retain legal counsel in thailand and seize the plane. It can take time to execute the paperwork. In the meantime the ground fees add up. All of these costs are added to the unpaid lease payments. If the leasing company is lucky, it can sell the aircraft or lease it out again in a few months. In the meantime, the leasing company takes a financial loss, which it then tries to pass on to new clients through interest rates or charges. it also takes the loss against its profits if it has made any. If there were profits the loss reduces the taxes paid by the leasing company.

Please increase the parking fee in the airport untill the aircrafts are gone :-)

ILFC (the owners) are pretty good, it may be gone before sunday

I assume It's an A330-200 you have sitting there? Popular plane, I'm sure they have other customers waiting. If it's the HGW, someone's already on the phone to them.

(don't know what tail number)

Only for the curious **warning, pdf link http://www.flightglo...census-2011.pdf One A330 for Strategic there, if it's an HKT-MEL flight, then it's an A330.

Edited February 17, 2012 by airconsult

[oldsailor35]

I am due to fly with them return in 2 weeks to HKT from BNE

Thanks you pack of wanke_rs!!!

I have done my $900 Aud cold.

This is all get. No chance of refund as paid Eftpos (cash)

http://www.airaustra...lia%20FAQs.ashx

I always thought that your travel insurance would cover this ?

[oldsailor35]

Makes one afraid to fly almost anywhere.

[DoctorG]

About a year ago I flew Brisbane to Phuket with Strategic for AUD299. While I was sitting there enjoying my full service treats, I could not help but wonder "how do they do this for the price?" I guess I now have my answer.

Also;

In January I booked a flight from Lisbon to Toronto (return) with Spanair only to find them go broke 2 weeks later. My credit card provider assures me that I will get a total refund (eventually).

[jshorts]

the airline never should have been launched if it was obliged to pay Australian wages to all its staff.

They also could never compete with Air Asia's service.

Apparently the owner of the company felt otherwise.

[jshorts]

You normally get slugged with a online booking fee, not a 2% fee.

I am under the impression that you must pay a surcharge if you *don't* book online.

[airconsult]

You normally get slugged with a online booking fee, not a 2% fee.

I am under the impression that you must pay a surcharge if you *don't* book online.

Both - it saves confusion - just shut up and pay, ok?

[jshorts]

[Yes, true, but it seems that some kind of a bond or other insurance type of guarantee should have been in place in case something like this happened. The deregulation in Oz and other places (the US too decades ago) has been good, but there has to be oversight and responsibility as well. I think a lot of people assume that there is such a system in place, especially older people. Requiring a $1 million or $5 million bond, whatever the amount, would ensure that the customer was taken care of, and tickets home paid for.

I think the airline does have some kind of responsibility to their customers to at least ensure they get home.

Regarding bond: I agree.

Regarding responsibility: I am unclear what you are suggesting the cashless airline does at this point.

[jshorts]

Early this morning on Melbourne radio I heard that they were still selling tickets up to 8.00 pm last night.They must have known what was about to happen.

And your point is . . .

[jshorts]

Yea, Russian Tour company goes bankrupt and stands hundreds of tourists; Aussie Airline goes bankrupt and strands hundreds of tourists: it's a good thing that the TAT assures everyone that tourism in Thailand is going great and numbers are increasing--or one might just be a bit worried!

Didn't the Russian government stump up the money in the end to cover repatriation of tourists???

Please provide the link. I would enjoy reading about this.

[Macmundi]

I am due to fly with them return in 2 weeks to HKT from BNE

Thanks you pack of <snip>!!!

I have done my $900 Aud cold.

This is all get. No chance of refund as paid Eftpos (cash)

http://www.airaustra...lia%20FAQs.ashx

Poor ole' Shane ... not have much of a run of luck are you recently?

A perfectly valid excuse why you can't give your girl the salary she requested now!

Karma works in stange and mysterious ways.

Directed at OP.

Shane, you could consider Air Asia X - they run a route from KUL to OOL (Cooloongatta) at pretty reasonable rates. From KUL there are several flights to HKT.

From brisvegas to OOL - Qld rail offers a rail-bus service.

Sorry about the loss, but when Strategic rebranded it's passenger services back in November it set off warning bells in my mind. Luckily for the miners, I believe Strategic kept the mine flights labelled as charter, not scheduled, so they may still be running.

Cheers

where on earth is brisvegas?

[rfukata]

I am due to fly with them return in 2 weeks to HKT from BNE

Thanks you pack of <snip>!!!

I have done my $900 Aud cold.

Qantas just announced on Australian radio that they have aircraft on the ground in phuket and will fly passengers back to Aus for $600 AUD excluding surcharges and taxes. expensive for a oneway flight.

In Honolulu, it was reported that the majority of 4000 tourists stranded were in Phuket and Honolulu. Hawaiian airlines has offered

a oneway ticket to Sydney for $300 usd for the stranded victims.

[airconsult]

Directed at OP.

Shane, you could consider Air Asia X - they run a route from KUL to OOL (Cooloongatta) at pretty reasonable rates. From KUL there are several flights to HKT.

From brisvegas to OOL - Qld rail offers a rail-bus service.

Sorry about the loss, but when Strategic rebranded it's passenger services back in November it set off warning bells in my mind. Luckily for the miners, I believe Strategic kept the mine flights labelled as charter, not scheduled, so they may still be running.

Cheers

where on earth is brisvegas?

It's a term first used about 20 years ago when they opened their first legal casino in the old State treasury building - I was working in that city at the time, many people still remember that nickname...... since the person I was answering to was originally flying from Brisbane I thought he might know the reference......

[Roj]

Let`s hope the travellers manage to escape safely from Phuket.

[antipodesant]

"TO SOME, insolvency guru Mark Korda is Dr Death, ... "

You get what you pay for..

Cheap, so-called "budget airlines" have been the cancer of the industry. Until the tumor is removed, and the "I want everything for nothing" attitude has been eradicated, there will be no cure.

Assuming that all those stranded passengers are literate, they can't claim total innocence. Their predicament is their own doing. ...

Have you ever heard that one .. "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't." ... ?

Error contains the seed of it's own destruction.

"If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is" (too good to be true)." My sentiments entirely. OK you pay a little more BUT you get there. You're unlikely to see Qantas, BA, SIA, Emirates, KLM and many others going belly up. Spend hours shopping around on price for what is generally a 2nd rate service anyway. Most often in life you get what you pay for

[Orac]

Yea, Russian Tour company goes bankrupt and stands hundreds of tourists; Aussie Airline goes bankrupt and strands hundreds of tourists: it's a good thing that the TAT assures everyone that tourism in Thailand is going great and numbers are increasing--or one might just be a bit worried!

Didn't the Russian government stump up the money in the end to cover repatriation of tourists???

Please provide the link. I would enjoy reading about this.

http://www.rferl.org/content/putin_tells_bank_to_bail_out_bankrupt_travel_operator/24469945.html

[ableguy]

I am due to fly with them return in 2 weeks to HKT from BNE

Thanks you pack of <snip>!!!

I have done my $900 Aud cold.

This is all get. No chance of refund as paid Eftpos (cash)

http://www.airaustra...lia%20FAQs.ashx

Poor ole' Shane ... not have much of a run of luck are you recently?

A perfectly valid excuse why you can't give your girl the salary she requested now!

Karma works in stange and mysterious ways.

Directed at OP.

Shane, you could consider Air Asia X - they run a route from KUL to OOL (Cooloongatta) at pretty reasonable rates. From KUL there are several flights to HKT.

From brisvegas to OOL - Qld rail offers a rail-bus service.

Sorry about the loss, but when Strategic rebranded it's passenger services back in November it set off warning bells in my mind. Luckily for the miners, I believe Strategic kept the mine flights labelled as charter, not scheduled, so they may still be running.

Cheers

Problem with air aisia is this , the fares they advertise aer a fraction of what you finish up paying , false advertising they do here is unreal.

[ydraw]

Low cost should be illegal - if it was you were not stranded.

I don't mind getting stranded once every 10 years if I can fly 100 times for 1/3rd of the price. I can fly from Perth to Phuket with a low cost carrier for $450. With Qantas it's $1500.

OK you pay a little more BUT you get there. You're unlikely to see Qantas, BA, SIA, Emirates, KLM and many others going belly up.

You're right. Because if they did run out of money, their respective government would bail them out with your taxes. And in the meantime, they'll do their utmost to ensure that you pay the maximum possible for flights by lobbying the government to keep competition out of their skies.

[chooka]

Just saw on the news that Tiger will take some of thier staff and they are expanding thier fleet in Australia. Ummm guess tiger will be the next budget carrier to go under in Australia.

[ydraw]

Unlikely as Tiger are owned by Singapore Airlines, who are in turn backed by the Singaporean government. Same goes for Air Asia and Malaysian govt.