Flyers fume over Peach cancellation

Peach Aviation uses Airbus 320-200 jets on the Bangkok-Okinawa route.

Some 200 passengers were left stranded with no ground staff to help them when Peach Aviation abruptly cancelled a Bangkok-Okinawa flight early Friday, says a passenger who posted a complaint online.

The Japanese budget carrier said on its website that flight MM990 from Suvarnabhumi to Naha airport in Okinawa had to be cancelled "due to technical issues". The flight had been scheduled to leave Bangkok at 1.15am on Friday and arrive in southern Japan at 7.30am.

Another flight, MM989, from Naha to Bangkok on Saturday, will also be called off "due to aircraft rotation", it added. It was scheduled to leave Okinawa at 10.05pm on Saturday and arrive at Suvarnabhumi at 1am the next day.

A passenger who posted a complaint on Pantip.com said passengers preparing to board the aircraft at Suvarnabhumi were told that the flight would be delayed until 2am. Then it was cancelled with no ground staff to take care of more than 200 customers, the post said.

The post drew more than 60 comments on the web board.

Peach also cancelled two flights from Taipei to Okinawa and another flight from Okinawa to Osaka on Friday "due to aircraft rotation", according to the website.

The aircraft from Okinawa to Bangkok landed at 12.15am on Friday, according to Flightradar24.com, which tracks flights across the world. It was supposed to pick up passengers for the return leg about one hour later.

The plane needed checking, a Peach Aviation staff member at its call centre said when contacted by the Bangkok Post. No future flights would be called off, she said.

The airline had alerted passengers about the cancellation via their e-mail addresses and they could receive refunds for their tickets, she added.

Peach began its first flight from Bangkok to Okinawa on Feb 19 to promote tourism to the southernmost islands of Japan. The airline uses Airbus 320-200 jets on the Bangkok-Okinawa route.