Tigerair Australia has been forced to cancel flights between Australia and Bali due to what it says are “new administrative requirements” from Indonesian authorities.
The low-cost carrier said its four scheduled flights for Wednesday – TT1 Melbourne-Bali, TT17 Adelaide-Bali, TT24 Bali-Perth and TT6 Bali-Melbourne – have been cancelled, with Thursday’s flights under review.
Affected passengers would be contacted and put onto alternative flights, provided with accommodation or given a full refund, it said.
“Tigerair Australia has cancelled several flights to Denpasar (Bali) today following a decision by the Indonesian government to impose new administrative requirements for the operation of its flights between Bali and Australia,” the airline said in a statement posted on its website.
“Tigerair is working with the relevant Indonesian authorities to meet the new requirements and is hopeful of having flights up and running again as soon as possible.
“Tigerair Australia sincerely apologises for the inconvenience caused by today’s cancellations.”
The airline, which is owned by Virgin Australia, said its Australian domestic flights were operating as normal.
Tigerair began flights to Bali in March 2016, taking over the Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth to Bali routes from parent Virgin.
The low-cost carrier is using three Virgin Boeing 737-800s that have been repainted in Tigerair livery to operate its first international services. The aircraft, which remain on Virgin’s air operator’s certificate (AOC) and are flown by Virgin pilots alongside Tigerair cabin crew, feature 180 seats in an all-economy configuration with five extra-legroom rows available for purchase as an optional extra.
Tigerair was currently in the midst of applying to Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) for two changes to its AOC. The first was for the addition of the 737 onto its AOC as it transitions from Airbus A320s to 737-800s, with pilot training for the 737 already underway.
The second is to secure approval to operate international flights under its own AOC, rather than the current arrangement for its services to Bali.
