Budget carrier’s entire fleet grounded
The holiday plans of some 35,000 Australians have been thrown into chaos after budget low cost carrier Tiger Airways was grounded for safety reasons.
The Singapore-based airline was ordered by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) this weekend not to fly any of its 10 Airbus A320 jets until Saturday because of a “serious and imminent risk to air safety.”
Spokesperson for CASA Peter Gibson said: “We did a risk assessment exercise, which is what we’re paid to do, and when the risk gets unacceptably high you have to take action, which is what we did.â€
The grounding comes just before Australia’s schools break up for their summer holidays, disrupting thousands of holiday plans and leaving many stranded.
A Tiger Airways spokesman said: “Having mitigated the immediate passenger disruption to the best of its ability, the next priority for Tiger Airways Australia is to work with the CASA to fully address their concerns.
“The company reassures its customers that safety has been and will continue to be of paramount importance.â€
Now Virgin Australia, Qantas and Jetset have stepped in and stranded Tiger passengers are being offered reduced price domestic flights by Virgin Australia and Qantas group airlines.
Extra capacity is being called up to help Tiger passengers who face the prospect of being unable to fly as scheduled.
This is the first time CASA has banned a whole fleet from flying.
The aviation regulator only has the power to ground aircraft for five working days without permission from the Federal Court, but industry analysts believe it will seek the court’s approval to extend the ban this week.
The ban places the future of Singapore Airlines-backed Tiger Airways in jeopardy. The already shaky reputation of the airline has been further undermined to such an extent that it will struggle to regain the confidence of passengers if it gets back in the air.
The president and CEO of Tiger Airways, Tony Davis said that CASA was wrong and the group’s Australian subsidiary was safe.
He rejected CASA’s claim that Tiger posed an immediate risk to public safety.
Tiger Airways international flights between Australia and Singapore are not affected because they are operated by a separate business.
by Ian Jarrett and Dinah Hatch
Dinah
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