The latest route banned due to the aviation regulatory crackdown caused by the crash of AirAsia QZ8501 is a Citilink route from Jakata to Medan, which was banned by the Ministry of Transportation yesterday because officials said the airline did not have a proper permit for it.
Citilink Indonesia, a subsidiary of Garuda Indonesia, was forced to apologize to the thousands of passengers who had already bought tickets for the Jakarta to Medan flights from January 7 to 10.
The vice president of corporate communications at Citilink, Benny S Butarbutar, said the company had added submitted an application for additional flights over the holiday period, but the Transport Ministry said it was no longer valid.
“We apologize profusely to all passengers of the Citilink flight from Jakarta to Medan. We have immediately to accommodate passengers in the form of refunds, re-routing, and re-scheduling them, as we accept responsibility for their flights’ cancellation,” Benny said today as quoted by JPNN.
Benny argued that Citilink management had complied with all of the permit requirements, but would adhere to the authority of the Ministry of Transportation.
“We remain responsible for our passengers and Citilink continues to prioritize the best service for its customers, “Benny said.
