Thousands suffer from Viva Macau’s misfortune

Macau’s budget airline, Viva Macau, has had its flying license revoked, leaving 4,739 passengers, including many Vietnamese, high and dry.

In a press release on March 29, Viva Macau revealed that the air carrier cannot reach any agreement with the only fuel supplier in Macau, so the airline has cancelled flights from March 27 onward.

Viva Macau has also had its operating license revoked, shocking the air carrier.

For the immediate time, the airline has cancelled all flights departing from Macau and flights in the opposite direction from March 27 to the end of April 1, 2010.

The license revocation has directly affected the flights of Viva Macau to Tokyo (Japan), Sydney, Melbourne (Australia), Jakarta (Indonesia), HCM City and Hanoi (Vietnam)

As such, 33 flights are cancelled, affecting 4739 passengers. On March 30, 2010 alone, 121 Vietnamese passengers suffered from the flight cancellations.

Tran Trung, Deputy Director of Hanoi Office of TransViet Travel, the booking agent of Viva Macau in Vietnam, noted that the staff tried to contact passengers about the flight cancellations. The airline has reimbursed passengers who previously planned to take flights on March 27.

“Even I cannot answer the question of when Viva Macau’s flights will resume,” Trung admitted.

There are two airlines in Macau, including Air Macau and budget airline Viva Macau. The license revocation may be due to financial problems, a reasonable assumption in light of the global aviation industry’s suffering during the global economic crisis.

Viva Macau’s problems have reminded people about issues with Vietnamese Jetstar Pacific two years ago. In April 2008, the only fuel supplier in Vietnam unilaterally stopped providing petrol to Jetstar Pacific, causing delays and cancellations of many of the air carrier’s flights.

VOVNews

Tags: Viva Macau