Jetstar has launched an investigation after a "miscommunication" saw a plane load of holiday-makers en route to Bali turned around and sent back to Melbourne.
The Melbourne to Bali JQ35 service was meant to depart shortly after 6pm on Tuesday, but passenger Rafe Berding said it was delayed until 11pm.
Mr Berding said the plane was more than four hours into its journey and beginning its descent into Bali when it was denied landing.
"The staff and and also the passengers were confused as to why we had been denied landing," he said.
"The captain hadn't been given a reason, he advised the passengers of that at that point in time."
Mr Berding said passengers were later told the runways that could safely land the large plane were closed by the time the plane arrived.
He said it appeared to be a "stuff up on Jetstar's end".
"I think naturally people were annoyed about the instance but more concerned as to why the airline and also local authorities hadn't had that prior conversation and correspondence," he said.
One woman who was on the plane that was turned back said her family's 12-day holiday was now down to 10.
"You can't get compensation for that," she said.
"Everybody was just devastated and angry, some people had connecting ferries they needed to catch.
"It just seems to be chaotic and mismanaged."
Jetstar apologises for 'extremely frustrating experience'
In a statement, a Jetstar spokesperson said Tuesday's Melbourne to Bali service had been swapped to a larger Boeing 787 aircraft to carry more customers.
"Unfortunately, due to a miscommunication, the aircraft swap was not approved by the local regulator in Indonesia," the spokesperson said.
"As soon as we became aware, the flight returned to Melbourne, and we have rebooked passengers on a flight later today.
"We know this has been an extremely frustrating experience for customers and sincerely apologise for what happened."
The airline's spokesperson said Jetstar had provided passengers with hotel rooms and vouchers as they worked to get them to Bali on flights today and had begun a review into the "miscommunication".
