Sick airlifted first as Bali flights resume

Passengers with medical ­conditions or facing other hardships were being given priority yesterday as Jetstar resumed flights out of Bali.

Jan Gardiner, mother, Rob Gardiner and his wife Michelle and their three children at Bali's Denpasar Airport hoping for a flight tonight.

Passengers with medical ­conditions or facing other hardships were being given priority yesterday as Jetstar resumed flights out of Bali, while Virgin brought in two aircraft from ­Australia but was still reviewing conditions last night.

Amid intense passenger ­frustration, Virgin late yesterday said it was confident of joining other airlines in resuming flights in and out of Denpasar airport, which has been intermittently closed for two weeks.

Much to travellers’ relief, staff said two Virgin aircraft were being brought from Australia to fly passengers last night to Perth and Brisbane. It prioritised ­passengers needing to return for medical reasons.

Eight additional Virgin flights are due to operate alongside scheduled flights in and out of the resort island today.

Earlier yesterday Virgin was still monitoring the conditions it deemed unsafe from the volcanic ash blowing from Mount Raung in east Java. The ash plumes posed a major safety risk, the ­airlines said.

Seven Jetstar Australia-bound flights operated out of Bali yesterday. Jetstar prioritised seats on yesterday’s additional service for those needing to get home urgently “due to medical, hardship and other extenuating circumstances, so the extra flight from Bali to Perth has been filled by these passengers’’.

All flights, including AirAsia and Garuda Indonesia, resumed briefly on Saturday before being grounded again on Sunday. All except Virgin flew again during the day yesterday.

Stranded passengers who had been waiting at the airport for days were growing increasingly agitated, citing communication breakdowns.

Rob and Michelle Gardiner from Melbourne were trying to get home with their three small children and Mr Gardiner’s mother Jan, who relied on vital medical treatment. “If I am not back by Thursday I won’t be able to walk,’’ she said.

They were waiting last night for a flight via Singapore and Perth on ­Jetstar, which has cost them an ­additional $2000.

Some have reported “queue jumping’’ by those willing to pay exorbitant prices for flights.

Michelle Hamar from Perth said a one-way Virgin ticket to Perth now cost $800.

Her husband Michael and two teenage sons were holed up in a budget hotel.

“We are wondering if priority passengers are paying a lot of money to get on the first flights home,’’ Ms Hamar said.

Ms Hamar says an Australian family of four told her last night they have paid a whopping $6000 to fly Virgin from Bali to Adelaide on Friday, after being rescheduled to fly on Jetstar on July 27. They couldn’t wait and bought the Virgin tickets last night.

A Virgin spokesman yesterday denied priority was going to top-paying customers.