CANBERRA, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of air passengers have been left stranded in Bali following low-cost carrier Tigerair Australia's announcement it had pulled out of all flights to and from the Indonesian island on Friday.
After the Australian offshoot of the Singapore-based airline failed to come to an agreement with the Indonesian government on regulatory approval for routes from major Australian cities, Tigerair Australia CEO Rob Sharp released a statement detailing the indefinite cancellation.
He said it was unlikely Tigerair Australia would be able to resume services to and from Bali for "at least" six months.
"We understand the impact that this situation will have on passengers booked to travel to and from Bali with Tigerair, and we sincerely apologize to all affected passengers," Sharp said on Friday.
"We have been advised by Indonesian authorities that in order to continue operating our flights to Bali, we would have to transfer to a new operating model that would take at least six months to implement and would compromise our ability to offer low-cost airfares to Australians."
"Therefore our only option is to withdraw from flying to Bali altogether."
With a number of Australians, and others, currently in Bali on a return ticket, the airline said it would "work with" Tigerair Australia's parent company Virgin Australia to ensure all passengers are returned home safely and without cost."
"We will continue to work with Virgin Australia to support any passengers still in Bali and needing to travel home to Australia," Sharp's statement said.
"We will also provide full refunds to customers who were booked to travel to and from Bali with us."
"We sincerely apologize to our customers who have been caught up in this and we will continue to work around the clock to support them as best we can."
