Please don’t be like Australia’s Jetstar, Indonesian minister tells airlines

JETSTAR BOEING 787-8 VH-VKA (MSN 36227)

Indonesia’s Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno has warned airlines to comply with flight regulations after a fiasco last week that saw a Bali-bound Jetstar Airways flight forced to return to Melbourne.

“Currently Jetstar is completely reviewing the incident and will apply procedures to prevent it from happening again. My department has also reminded all airlines to be more diligent in complying with the rules and regulations – for the safety of all of us,” the minister said today.

On the 28th of December Jetstar flight JQ1035 was told to return to its base by Ngurah Rai International Airport authorities after the Boeing-787 Dreamliner reportedly did not meet the requirements to land on Indonesian soil.

Some of the passengers were later moved to flights operated by Virgin Australia and Qantas while others stayed overnight at a hotel as part of Jetstar’s compensation.

A spokesman for Jetstar later explained that it was all a “miscommunication” because the airline switched the scheduled flight in with a bigger airline to bring more tourists to Bali during the school holidays in Australia.

“However, we have not communicated this to the authorities in Indonesia, so that was an internal mistake on our part,” said Ingrid Just, the airline’s head of Communications and Corporate Affairs.

Jetstar originally scheduled an Airbus A320-232 aircraft for the gate in Denpasar (Bali) but forgot to tell authorities there when demand necessitated a switch to a much bigger aircraft, a Boeing 787-8.
After learning of the news of the bigger aircraft Indonesian authorities revoked permission to land ruining holiday plans for everyone on board.