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.