Viva Macau Airlines apologises over groundings

The discount carrier Viva Macau has issued a public apology to several thousand passengers who were left stranded over the weekend after the airline was grounded by aviation authorities. Up to 4,739 travellers were stuck as 33 separate flights were suddenly cancelled last Friday, as their operating license was revoked by the Macau Civil Aviation Authority.

Authorities claimed that due to failure to pay fuel bills, the Air Operators Certificate for Viva Macau was cancelled, meaning flights for Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Tokyo, Sydney and Melbourne were all left in limbo. Today the airline attempted to explain the situation by way of public apology via its Hong Kong-based PR agency.

The carrier announced that it had in fact pre-paid all of its fuel charges and had also provided credit guarantees to the supplier from their shareholders. Despite this, an agreement between the two parties was not reached, leading to what Viva Macau called an ‘unexpected stop to flights’, according to a statement.

No mention was made of who may be responsible for the dispute, with the airline saying they were deeply surprised that its Air Operators Certificate was without notice revoked. Aviation authorities in Macau have openly criticised the airline for its handling of the crisis, labelling it as uninformative, irresponsible and uncooperative.

Macau’s Tourism Crisis Management Office was left scrambling to find tickets on rival carriers in an attempt to get tourists home, while Viva Macau adhered to a request from authorities to halt all online ticket sales.