Taiwan tourists stranded in Bali

Indonesian aviation authorities have cancelled the flights of Taiwan-based Mandarin Airlines (華信航空) to Bali, leaving an estimated 1,000 tourists stranded on the resort island.

In addition, Mandarin refuses to pay for return tickets for the stranded tourists, saying it isn't obligated by law to do so.

Aviation authorities on Monday asked Mandarin Airlines to cancel its flights to Bali immediately. Indonesia had originally authorized the airline's flights until August, Mandarin said.

Charter flights operated by Uni Air (立榮航空) have not been affected. Both airlines run two flights weekly to Bali departing from Kaohsiung.

Airline officials believe Indonesia took the action to give a boost to its own airline companies. During bilateral talks last month, Indonesian aviation authorities asked that Taiwan charter operators reduce the number of flights to Bali.

Mandarin Airlines said it first received notice of the request on May 18.

"The outcome is beyond our control," company officials said.

Mandarin said it would offer fare discounts so affected tourists can get home on other routes, but it would not compensate travellers in full.

"We're not obliged by law to compensate the travellers for the cancelled flights," the airline added. "We'll offer the discounts because we want to help."

Company officials said it had warned travel agencies on June 8 that there could be problems with bookings for July, and that bookings for June flights had to be reviewed on a case by case basis.

But travel agencies that had booked the flights to Bali for the period between this week and August say Mandarin had failed to inform them of Indonesia's May 18 request.

"We booked tourists for flights to Bali without proper warning, causing complicated problems in satisfying our customers with regard to compensation," said Wang Hsien-Kuo (王憲國), the head of one affected travel agency.

Mandarin and travel agencies are still negotiating on how to compensate disappointed customers. The travel agencies have not ruled out boycotting the airline if they fail to reach an agreement.

In addition to charter flights, scheduled flights operated by China Airlines (華航) and EVA Air (長榮航空), depart for Bali seven and five times per week, respectively, according to the Civil Aeronautics Administration.

Charter flights require the permission of aviation authorities of the destination country, and do not fall under bilateral aviation agreements.

"Charter flights are run by individual airlines for profit," the CAA said. "They risk, however, being cancelled at any time by the aviation authorities of the destination country, because they are not governed by aviation rights agreements."

The CAA said a review of the aviation agreement between both countries would be held in August. The group said Monday's ban on Mandarin's charter flights would be discussed but reinstatement could not be guaranteed.