Hundreds Of Phuket Passengers Stranded As Air Australia Goes Bust

[chooka]

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.

Singapore Airlines actually only owns 32% of Tiger Airways Australia...

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[antipodesant]

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.

Not saying you're wrong but at the end of the day what do you want "to get there or sleep on the terminal floor for several days" i WANT TO GET THERE IN THE SHORTEST POSSIBLE TIME

[ydraw]

I'm prepared to wait in an airport for a few hours to save over $1000, yes. I fly Air Asia and low cost carriers exclusively and have experienced delays twice in 10 years of travelling between Australia and South East Asia. Once I had to overnight in Brunei, and once I had an extra 4 hour wait at LCCT in Kuala Lumpur.

I've saved well over $10,000 by flying with Air Asia rather than Thai or Qantas, and it's not like their flights are never delayed either.

Edited February 17, 2012 by ydraw

[oldsailor35]

I have read somewhere that the Aust govt might be chartering an aircraft to fly those stranded in Phuket. So why don't they just "gas up" the AA planes standing in Phuket and fly them home, after all, they were all ready to fly when the fuel bill problem came up !

[oldsailor35]

No one should travel without travel insurance these days. In my experience, even paying by credit card doesn't ensure any help whatsoever any longer.

As noted above, travel insurance is cheap and affordable and easy to get online in minutes. The good thing about AirAsia too is that they do offer insurance as an option when booking.

It's nice it's an option in case you've purchased it elsewhere, nothing no one hates more than paying double for something.

Be careful of Air Asia's insurer - have you always read the fine print? Here's an example - If I flew to KUL on Thai Air Asia (with insurance), the policy reads that it is only valid for Thai Citizens and residents - ok. But now I take a flight from KUL to HKG.... the insurance now reads as only valid if I am a Malaysian citizen or permanent resident.

Always read the fine print.......

Yes, i have just booked BKK to Ho Chi Min and noticed that travel insurance is available............Thai residents only !

[ydraw]

Travel insurance doesn't usually cover airline insolvency anyway. So having it wouldn't help much in this case.

[robdub]

No doubt that silly Australian Government will bale out those silly, bogan Australian tourists, where is their Travel Insurance. Sort t out yourself losers and don't expect Australian taxpayers to bail you out. Unlucky!

[robdub]

No doubt that silly Australian Government will bale out those silly, bogan Australian tourists, where is their Travel Insurance. Sort t out yourself losers and don't expect Australian taxpayers to bail you out. Unlucky!

And have you noticed the one airline that those loony Australian unions are trying to destroy has come to the rescue for the bogans. Where's Virgin Australia in all this? No where to be seen. Leaving it all to Qantas. Again. Be careful what you ask for Unions, you might just get it. You'll all be out of jobs. And I'll be at the exit gate as you wave your pink slips, cheering goodbye

[bobfish]

Commiserations to the stranded passengers.

Unfortunately, and particularly with "budjets" - you get what you pay for......

[Kripe]

I'm prepared to wait in an airport for a few hours to save over $1000, yes. I fly Air Asia and low cost carriers exclusively and have experienced delays twice in 10 years of travelling between Australia and South East Asia. Once I had to overnight in Brunei, and once I had an extra 4 hour wait at LCCT in Kuala Lumpur.

I've saved well over $10,000 by flying with Air Asia rather than Thai or Qantas, and it's not like their flights are never delayed either.

It is great to save money, but of course you will have to accept when the carrier go bust - the low cost carriers are as earlier mentioned a cancer to the aviation industry, when they make minimal profit on the tickets how are they able to treat their staff decent? -low cost is NOT the first choice for neither Pilots, Flight Attendants, Mechanic, ground staff nor management.

[ydraw]

the low cost carriers are as earlier mentioned a cancer to the aviation industry

Who cares about the aviation industry? It doesn't concern me how much profit Qantas makes. What concerns me is how much my holiday costs.

low cost is NOT the first choice for neither Pilots, Flight Attendants, Mechanic, ground staff nor management.

Of course not, they get a 90% reduction in their ticket prices for the airlines they work for. If Qantas gave me a 90% discount I would probably fly with them too.