UPDATE (9.35am): Chan Brothers Travel explained that the delay in securing seats to fly the tour group back was due to a delayed response from Air New Zealand. You can read their full statement below.
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Going on an overseas vacation is usually a time of joy.
For one group of tourists from Singapore, their trip to New Zealand almost ended in disaster.
They had no return flight home and were temporarily stranded in the country.
Their tour agency, Chan Brothers Travel, only managed to secure a flight for them four days after the original return date.
Speaking to MS News, one of the travellers, Ms Rachel, shared that the trip started on 30 Nov.
The group’s return flight on Air New Zealand was supposed to be on the morning of 11 Dec. However, they did not receive any confirmed details about it from their travel agency representatives.
When questioned, both of their tour guides from Chan Brothers Travel told them that they had to wait for updates from the airline. Ms Rachel said this gave the impression of deflecting responsibilities.
Source: Facebook
Screenshots of a WhatsApp conversation show multiple members of her tour group asking for the confirmation details.
Source: Facebook
In response, the tour guide simply suggested they wait for an update from Air New Zealand.
Thus far, all flights for 12 Dec and 13 Dec are already full, according to the agency.
The delay of their return flight has been highly inconvenient for multiple members of the tour group, Ms Rachel told MS News.
“We have some elderly folks here that need their prescribed medication,” she said, adding that others, herself included, are expected back at work.
When they raised the issue of medication running out, the tour guide simply advised them to top up their medicine and wait for an update.
Image courtesy of Ms Rachel
All efforts to reach out to the tour agency’s helpline have proved futile as well.
Source: Facebook
Their current accommodation is being paid for by Air New Zealand.
Fortunately, Chan Brothers eventually managed to secure flights for the group with Malaysia Airlines on 15 Dec.
They also booked a few seats on a midnight flight by the same airline on 12 Dec, which they will give to those who need to return to Singapore more urgently.
However, Ms Rachel pointed out that both trips will transit in Kuala Lumpur.
“This is not too ideal as we did pay for a more premium airline without any transits,” she said.
In response to MS News‘ queries, Chan Brothers Travel senior marketing communications manager Jeremiah Wong said the airline had cancelled their tour group’s return flight on 11 Dec due to operational requirements.
“We were only informed of the flight cancellation by Air Zealand when checking in at Auckland airport, at the same time as our travellers in the group,” he said.
Mr Wong stressed that the tour leader and the rest of the team in Singapore worked tirelessly to connect with Air New Zealand to seek a resolution on the matter.
It was not a deflection of responsibility on our part but a standard operating procedure to always check in with the airline that issued the tickets, especially when they were the ones who cancelled the flight.
Unfortunately, the airline did not respond as speedily as expected.
Mr Wong said while the tour leader had explained to the travellers that the matter was still pending updates from Air New Zealand, the Singapore team had started to look for alternative flights, including those by other carriers, to fly the stranded travellers back home as soon as possible.
Despite the scarcity of available seats, Chan Brothers Travel could secure seats to fly back the first group of travellers one day later, on 12 Dec, and the rest the day after.
Mr Wong noted that their travellers were well cared for in New Zealand by the tour leader.
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Featured image adapted from Dan Freeman on Unsplash and Facebook.
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