The collapse of the budget carrier Air Australia has stranded hundreds of the airline's passengers overseas and left thousands more with little prospect of taking flights they have paid for. According to some reports, the airline is believed to have sold about 100,000 tickets for future flights that are unlikely to ever take off.
Mark Korda, Administrator, KordaMentha told the ABC, “Air Australia was unable to purchase fuel in Phuket to refuel the planes. They owed the supplier of fuel, money, and needed to buy fuel, so the supplier would not supply fuel.The directors had a meeting and have appointed us as administrators due to the solvency of the company. Our focus at the moment is just dealing with the passengers overseas. So we have talked to Qantas, Virgin and Jetstar. But we are encouraging all people overseas to make alternative arrangements.” |