To stroll on the beaches? To eat coconuts? To forget all about the problems of island life by escaping for a slice of equally idyllic island life?
It is little surprise therefore that AirAsia has ‘suspended’ this flight... indefinitely, or to quote an AirAsia spokesperson, “There has been a permanent route suspension.”
Another route that met a similar end this week is Phuket to Ubon Ratchathani. This yearAirAsia has also cancelled many of its international flights from its Kuala Lumpur hub, including those to London, Paris and Christchurch. More information here.
The surprise of the cancellation of Phuket-Bali therefore doesn’t lie in why it was done but rather how it was done.
One Phuket News reader contacted us to let us know that on their way from Bali airport to her hotel, she received an SMS message from AirAsia stating that her return flight to Phuket had been cancelled.
Another of our well-travelled readers informed us that when he phoned up to enquire about adding another passenger to his group bound for Ubon Ratchathani in November, they told him that the flight had been cancelled. In fact all such flights have been cancelled.
How much more impersonal are these annoucements going to get? Mid-air, mid-flight? “Passengers, this is your captain speaking. I regret to inform you that we are no longer flying to your destination. Anybody for Mexico?”
Surely their valued customers deserve more than a breakup SMS or to be informed of a problem only when pushed. Never has there been an era where the old mantra ‘customer is king’ been more relevant.
It’s bye bye Bali for now – but we wonder just where else in the world we will be cut off from next and whether we will be told.