Minister orders Mandala Airlines to refund passengers’ tickets

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 01/13/2011 5:11 PM | Business

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Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi has ordered Mandala Airlines to immediately refund the tickets of its abandoned passengers after just this morning the airline announced a temporary halt in operation.

“We’ve called for them to settle the refund issues well and fairly,” Freddy said Thursday in Jakarta, adding it was the airline’s obligation to fulfill the passengers’ right for ticket refunds.


Meanwhile, the ministry’s director general for air transportation, Herry Bhakti S. Gumay, said there was no special regulation regarding ticket refunds, thus Mandala could operate the way it wanted.

“For example, [passengers] can refund their tickets at the company’s headquarters,” Herry said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

Mandala president director Djono Nurjadin announced earlier today that the debt-ridden airline had to temporarily cease flights so it could focus on efforts to settle its debt restructuring issue.
The announcement, however, came too suddenly, resulting in many passengers being stranded at airports, giving no certainty on their flight schedules.