Tigerair Australia has communicated that it will permanently discontinue its Australia to Denpasar Bali flights.

Virgin Australia’s wholly owned subsidiary was forced to suspend flights earlier in January at the request of the Indonesian authorities due to licencing issues. Tigerair used Virgin Australia 737 aircraft for the services from Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth to Australia. The services used Virgin Australia pilots and Tigerair cabin crew. The services were introduced to replaced Virgin Australia flights from these ports.

The Indonesia authorities were prepared to offer a solution to the regulatory issues facing the carrier, however according to Tigerair this process would have taken up to six months to implement not making the services viable.

Rob Sharp, CEO of Tigerair Australia states “Providing a reliable, low-cost service is critical for Tigerair Australia and our customers, and therefore our only option is to withdraw from flying to Bali altogether,”

Customers already booked will be eligible for a refund. Virgin Australia will assist in providing flights for passenger already in Bali.

It is unclear at this time whether Virgin Australia will once again resume regular services from MEL/ADL/PER to Bali. It still maintain regular 737 operated flights from Sydney and Brisbane.