Perth residents yearning for a holiday — or a mental health break — have been devastated by a cluster of flight cancellations to Bali and other destinations this week.
Jetstar has cancelled one flight per day between Perth and Bali since Monday, leaving scores of West Australian residents — many of whom were to be travelling for the first time since COVID-19 border closures were lifted — unable to leave as planned.
The airline usually runs three flights per day on that route.
"We appreciate this is extremely frustrating for customers, especially during the school holiday period, and sincerely apologise for the disruption these delays have caused," a Jetstar spokesperson said.
The airline said "ongoing resourcing challenges" were to blame and also apologised for a mass disruption of flights into Darwin on Wednesday.
All flights into the airport on Wednesday night were cancelled, affecting passengers travelling from Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane.
A spokesperson said those cancellations were due to "operational challenges".
Lucy Summers and her family were supposed to fly from Perth to Bali early on Monday morning, but their excitement turned to disappointment when they received a text around midnight saying their flight had been cancelled.
The next available flight was not until July 11, which was the day after they planned to return, and not an option for Ms Summers.
She said it was crushing news for the family, who had been looking forward to a long-awaited return to Bali, which they call their "happy place".
"The last couple of years with COVID and everything, it's really hit mental health," Ms Summers told ABC Radio Perth.
"This wasn't just a holiday for us … it was a mental health break as much as a holiday."
Knowing that would no longer be possible was a blow to the family, who decided to book a couple of nights at a hotel in Perth to give themselves a small break.
"Just to get away from the house, to try [to] get a bit of a holiday feel but, you know, it's not the warm weather," she said.
Aaron Trousselot got stuck in Melbourne trying to reach his 13-year-old son, who had travelled before them to reach a baseball tournament on the Gold Coast.
He said the next available flight offered by Jetstar would have been more than a week later, far too late to attend the tournament.
"I had to go and buy [another] ticket for my wife and my three other children at $7,000 one-way," Mr Trousselot said.
Consumer Protection Western Australia has issued an alert, advising passengers that they are entitled to a refund if the replacement flight is "not acceptable".
Consumer Protection Commissioner Gary Newcombe said the law dictated that airlines must provide travel services within a reasonable time.
"The consumer guarantees that apply will depend on the length of the delay, the reason for the cancellation/delay or whether the airline could organise another flight within a reasonable time," Mr Newcombe said.
"The airline's obligations may not apply if the reasons are outside their control, such as weather conditions and other factors."
Travellers can lodge a complaint with Consumer Protection if the airline is only offering a flight credit and not a refund.
The organisation suggested airline customers purchase travel insurance that protects them from these types of cancellations, adding that its advice was specific to recent cancellations and may not apply in other situations, such as issues related to COVID-19.
