Jetstar has been operating with half its long-haul fleet out of service because of maintenance and engineering issues,contributing to widespread cancellations that have affected thousands of customers’ international travel plans.
The Qantas-owned budget airline has cancelled eight return services from Sydney and Melbourne to Bali since September 1,plus more from Thailand and Japan,and has been unable to offer some customers new flights home more than a week after their original travel dates.
About 4000 customers had flights to and from Bali cancelled,and about 180 of them were yet to accept alternative flights from the Indonesian holiday island,Jetstar said on Tuesday.
Jetstar operates 11 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and has confirmed five of them are currently out of service. A sixth jet,which was grounded after hitting a bird,returned to service on Saturday.
The grounded planes include a 787 that washit by a freak lightning strike on a flight from Melbourne to the Gold Coast on May 7 and sustained extensive damage to its fuselage.
Jetstar said at the time that it expected the aircraft to be grounded for six to eight weeks,but it remains out ofservice 3½ months later.
The carrier said another plane was damaged after hitting an item on a runway,while there have been delays in sourcing a spare part from the US due to supply chain constraints. Two more jets have been grounded for scheduled maintenance.
A spokesperson said one aircraft would return to service by the end of Tuesday and that the airline was “working hard to get the remaining aircraft back in the air as quickly as possible”,with most expected back by the end of next week.
“We sincerely apologise for the frustration and inconvenience this disruption has caused our customers,” Jetstar said.