SINGAPORE: Passengers at Changi Airport heading to Bali were left stranded on Monday (Nov 27) after flights to the Indonesian island were cancelled and its Denpasar airport was closed.
The move came after Indonesian authorities raised the alert for Bali’s Mount Agung volcano to the highest level.
Passengers Channel NewsAsia spoke to said there was a snaking queue at Scoot’s Terminal 2 check-in counter early in the morning. The budget airline had three flights departing Singapore for Bali on Monday.
When Channel NewsAsia visited at 11.30am, there was still a slight queue at the Scoot counter. Boards at the counter flashed information about the cancelled flights, and two service ambassadors from Changi Airport were on hand with a cart of refreshments for affected passengers.
Changi service ambassadors set up a cart with refreshments for those affected. (Photo: Lianne Chia)
Some passengers had already boarded their flights, but had to disembark. One of them, who wished only to be known as Dickson, had already boarded the flight scheduled to depart at 7.15am when passengers were informed of the cancellation.
“The captain told us it was delayed at first. Then subsequently they said they were waiting for information,” he said. “That was around 8 plus in the morning.”
At 8.30am, they were informed of the cancellation.
“We will have to write to the management to get our refund, and at least we have insurance so we can get our money back.”
The group of four friends had planned a vacation to Bali that cost about S$1,500 per person. But left at the airport, they decided to change their plans, and book another flight to Taiwan departing first thing on Tuesday.
“Scoot initially told us that we could fly somewhere else without a charge, but when got to the front of the queue, we found that they limited the countries we could fly to regional ones,” he said.
The trip will cost them about S$2,000 per person, but they said they were taking the cancellations in their stride.
AirAsia’s notice to passengers on the cancellation of flights to Bali. (Photo: Lianne Chia)
Other passengers were taking the same attitude.
Crystal Loh was part of a group of friends and family booked on the 7.15am Scoot flight, and was in the transit area when she was informed of the cancellation.
“We only found out about the cancellation at 9.30am, and then we had to come back out and queue again.”
The cancellation letter Scoot gave out to passengers (Photo: Lianne Chia)
“They said we could either have a full refund or choose another flight to another destination,” she added. “So we decided to go to Phuket instead.”
“We’re not very disappointed. It’s not really under our control. And honestly we’ve found a better destination … the beaches at Bali can be overpopulated.”
“Definitely there’s a hassle, but we will think positively and just handle it. It’s a holiday, so we don’t want to let this destroy everything,” said Angeline Tan, another member of the group. “It was very good that Scoot allowed us to re-book our ticket to a different destination at no charge.”
