Delays leave AirAsia passengers disgruntled
As Emma Kelly and Carly Cartwright sat woefully next to their suitcases, they were among dozens of Perth travellers who vowed never to fly with AirAsia again.
But though their flight dramas began about the same time one of the airline's planes disappeared from the sky above the Java Sea, their frustrations were nothing to do with its lost plane.
Travellers yesterday counted more than 30 hours being stranded at Perth Airport, after the AirAsia plane they were due to travel on blew a tyre on landing at the international terminal on Sunday.
The incident happened on the same day an AirAsia Zest flight was cancelled in the Philippines because of a tyre problem. At Perth Airport, Flight D7 236 from Kuala Lumpur was parked on the tarmac yesterday afternoon, more than 30 hours after it was supposed to be travelling back to Malaysia.
The airline said loose rubber from the blown tyre damaged the plane's landing gear, which was being repaired.
The plane was due to leave Perth at 10 o'clock last night, but the news did little to dampen the frustrations of dozens of passengers at the airport.
Ms Cartwright said she and her friend lost $400 in hotel costs and two days of their holidays after the flight they were supposed to leave on at 6.40am on Sunday was delayed.
"We should have been in Tokyo for about 12 hours now," she said. "We've been delayed for 30 hours and all they could give us was a $20 voucher. That's all they could give us and you could only spend it in one place - here.
"It's not the plane going down but I'd never fly with AirAsia again, because of the way they've handled this."
Others were anxious they would not be able to make connecting flights in Tokyo. Some travellers scrambled to find Malaysia Airlines flights at the last minute yesterday.
AirAsia said the airline apologised for the disruption to travellers' plans and staff were trying to transfer passengers on to other connecting flights.
While some passengers shrugged off news of Sunday's plane disappearance, others struggled to contain their nerves as they prepared to board flights with the airline.
Lynne Evans, who took a flight from Perth yesterday afternoon, said travellers were "running out of airlines" that had not been in a disaster.
"I did ask my son to come find me if we get lost," she said.
"I'm a bit dubious but what-ever, so be it. Who else are you going to go to?"
