The strictly regulated operating hours for crew members on the Jetstar JQ130 flight from Rarotonga to Auckland, were exceeded leading to the cancellation of flight on Monday night.

This left some passengers stranded on the island, with some finding comfortable accommodations arranged by the airline and others having to find their own lodging for the night due to full accommodations.

In an email correspondence with Cook Islands News, a Jetstar spokesperson explained that due to the unfortunate late arrival of the inbound aircraft, their crew exceeded their strictly regulated operating hours, which resulted in the cancellation of the flight.

One of the affected passengers, Ashley Brett, took to social media around 12am yesterday morning seeking help with accommodation while waiting for the alternative flight.

“Our flight has just been cancelled from Raro to Auckland Jetstar. It’s 11.30pm I know this happens often, does anyone who has had this happen to you, know where to get accommodation at this time of night,” she posted.

Speaking to Cook Islands News, Brett explained that the airline did put a lot of people up in rooms on Monday night until Tuesday morning. Once the rooms were filled, the airline staff started telling people to find their own accommodations.

“But the email they sent out said keep receipts as they give 200 AUD per room, 30 AUD per person for food and pay for transfers with,” Brett added.

Last night, she told the newspaper, “Jetstar sorted most of it for everyone, they were actually pretty good and gave every one vouchers for breakfast in the morning too.”

The airline’s spokesperson stressed that all passengers were accommodated for the night and apologised to the passengers for the inconvenience.

The spokesperson added the passengers would be reimbursed for all reasonable expenses including accommodation, meals and transport to and from the hotel. The affected passengers were re-accommodated onto a flight at 12pm on Tuesday. 

“Our teams worked hard to ensure that all affected customers were given overnight accommodation in Rarotonga and put on an alternative flight today (yesterday),” the spokesperson stated.

“We’re really sorry for the inconvenience to our customers.”