Holiday hell as Tiger fights for its life
July 4, 2011
Virgin Australia, Qantas and Jetset are attempting to save the holidays of thousands of Australian families after the grounding of budget operator Tiger Airways by safety authorities until at least July 9.
Stranded Tiger passengers are being offered reduced price domestic flights by Virgin Australia and Qantas group airlines.
Extra capacity is being called up to help Tiger passengers who face the prospect of being unable to fly as scheduled.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) said its decision to ground the airline at the start of the school holidays was unavoidable and a result of its risk analysis and the ongoing problems at the airline.
“It was a risk assessment exercise, which is what we’re paid to do, and when the risk gets unacceptably high you have to take action, which is what we did,” CASA spokesman Peter Gibson said.
All Tiger’s 10 Airbus A320 jets have been grounded until Saturday – the first time CASA has banned a whole fleet from flying.