UPDATE
Passengers stranded on Phuket were told there will be a Strategic flight out from Phuket to Brisbane at 6.35pm tonight. But after they were processed through Immigration, they were told the flight had been delayed until 12.05am. One man is reported to have become angry with Phuket airport staff. Others were frustrated at what they called ''a charade.'' ''We just want to be told what's going on,'' a stranded passenger said. At 7.30pm, the DELAYED sign went up against the 12.05 flight. Angry passengers were beginning to lose their tempers. Ironically, most had earlier told reporters that their Phuket holidays had been extremely enjoyable. But getting home was becoming a full-blown disaster for some who had been trapped since Wednesday - and a disaster for Strategic.
Original Report
PHUKET: About 180 angry passengers have been stranded on Phuket after a Strategic flight to Brisbane was cancelled last night.
One passenger was mugged at a Phuket City ATM early today and had 10,000 baht stolen.
Most of the passengers, accommodated overnight at Royal Phuket City Hotel in Phuket City, were running short of cash and distraught over the lack of information from the new and inexperienced Australian international carrier.
It is believed it could even be the second Strategic flight cancelled - passengers delayed last night on their way to Brisbane said they had been told an earlier flight to Melbourne was also cancelled.
Phuketwan has since learned that the passengers from the earlier flight - VC241 - were due out via an LTU flight at 11am today.
Some 185 passengers from flight VC247 were anxiously awaiting news at their Phuket City hotel today, angry about the lack of contact from Strategic.
Passengers said the rooms' minibars had been cleaned out, there was no hot water, tea or coffee, and they were given only three minutes to contact relatives via the telephone at the reception desk.
No information was forthcoming from Strategic, either on Phuket or in Australia.
''Everybody is really annoyed because we haven't been given any information,'' said Jim Glencross, 70, from Coffee Camp near Nimbin, on the northern NSW coast. ''The flight was due to leave at 6.35pm but we weren't told it had been cancelled until 10pm.''
His wife Ros said: ''They have treated us like idiots. They knew much earlier that the flight wasn't taking off.'' It is believed the aircraft was flown to Kuala Lumpur for repairs.
Phill Wood, from Bundaberg, said: ''I suspected something was up when we got to the airport. I always look for our plane, and our plane was not there.''
He added: ''We've been treated like cattle on a ship, fed and watered, but kept in the dark.''
Some passengers have been told they could be stuck on Phuket until Tuesday.
The Australian honorary consul on Phuket, Larry Cunningham, sounded the alarm via the Australian embassy and the Consular Emergency Centre in Canberra was endeavoring to contact Strategic.
Flights to Phuket from Brisbane and Melbourne were one of the charter airline's first ventures into international services in February. Concerns have since been raised about the future of the airline.
When Jetstar missed two flights from Phuket to Australia last year, the airline had to pay about $1 million to send a relief aircraft from Australia.
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I flew this airline and on the return leg waited patiently for 3 hours as the TV screen said "delayed." It suddenly changed to "boarding" and I hadn't even checked in my bags! They had to radio the pilot and ask if he would wait for me and another girl who was also as baffled and lost as me. Fortunately they waited for us but it was clear they were struggling to get things running smoothly. You get what you pay for and often you end up saving nothing when things like this happen. I'm going back to using Thai or Singapore airlines. Strategic was delayed both legs which put 3 hours more on the trip, so the direct flight from Melbourne turned out to be pretty meaningless in saving time. The problem with these cheap airlines is you just cannot seem to contact them if you need to.
Posted by logbags on June 18, 2011 10:41