Indonesia denies Valuair landing rights

Indonesia denies Valuair landing rights

Associated Press Singapore

Singapore budget airline Valuair canceled its first three flights to Jakarta at the last minute and suspended ticket sales on Tuesday, after Indonesian authorities denied it landing rights.

Valuair couldn't confirm when it would obtain rights to land at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta Airport, but chief executive Jimmy Lau said in a statement that "we are confident of resolving them very soon." He didn't say the landing rights were denied.

The 51 passengers on Monday's maiden Valuair flight to Jakarta were transferred to a Garuda Indonesia plane, said Valuair spokesman Nilesh Pritam.

Pritam said flights scheduled for on Tuesday and Wednesday were also canceled, but he didn't how many passengers were affected. It was not immediately clear whether flights would be scrapped beyond on Wednesday.

All passengers booked to Jakarta would get free seats on other airlines until landing rights are approved, or they could get refunds, the airline said.

The no-frills carrier had planned to fly once daily to Jakarta from Singapore, with return tickets priced at S$138 (US$81).

Jakarta would have been Valuair's third destination. It launched services to Hong Kong and Bangkok last week.

Valuair was the first of three Singapore-based no-frills carriers to launch this year. The others are Singapore Airlines- owned Tiger Airways, and a Qantas-backed airline that has yet to be named.