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A Gold Coast education provider said cancelled Jetstar flights had become "beyond a joke", with English classes repeatedly disrupted by the delayed arrival of international students.
Key points:
- An education provider says flow-on effects of cancelled flights are hindering financial recovery
- Industry-wide cancellation rates in recent months are at least double the long-term average
- Disruptions are attributed to COVID-19-related issues, weather events and congestion
Inforum Education managing director Simon Craft said there had been disruptions for flights from Tokyo's Narita International Airport to the Gold Coast.
He said nine students at the English-language school experienced cancellations last week.
"We have students who start every Monday so a lot of those students are flying over the weekend," Mr Craft said.
"Our staff who look after accommodation and airport pick-up, they were working almost all day Saturday and a large chunk of Sunday as well trying to reorganise the students' schedule."
Australians on the the Tokyo Narita to Gold Coast route said they were left stranded "without food or water" last month after Jetstar cancelled the flight.
Jetstar restarted the direct route during August as part of the state government's $200 million Aviation Activation Investment Fund, which was jointly funded with the the state's four international airports.
A spokesperson for Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said "the fund does not have day-to-day control over international airline operations", with support dependent on Jetstar increasing the frequency of flights above the current three per week.
Elsewhere, hundreds of Australians have been scrambling for accommodation in Bali this week following multiple Jetstar flight cancellations.
Jetstar, which is owned by Qantas, has been contacted for comment.
Data shows more cancellations
Data from the federal government's Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics showed 8.8 per cent of Jetstar's domestic flights during July were cancelled.
Virgin Australia recorded a 7.8 per cent cancellation rate, Qantas recorded 5.6 per cent while Rex Airlines recorded just 2.1 per cent.
The long-term industry average for flight cancellations is 2.1 per cent.
The bureau blamed "weather-related events, congestion and other COVID-19-related issues" for the results.
Inforum co-director Jun Craft said a student last week had their flight cancelled for two days before a replacement flight was also cancelled.
She said the student flew into Cairns this week after a 24-hour delay before their connecting flight to the Gold Coast was also delayed.
"Students believed they could fly so that's why they've booked the flight," Ms Craft said.
"If they are not flying, [Jetstar] shouldn't be selling the tickets."
"If they have to cancel, they should try to accommodate them."
She said students arriving on other airlines from South America and Europe had not been experiencing similar disruptions.
Getting 'beyond a joke'
Simon Craft said issues with flight cancellations had been "ongoing for a number of months" but the unreliability of Jetstar services had made it difficult to plan classes.
"We're trying to determine how many classes and teachers we need on Monday for our new students, [but] of course they don't start and of course we don't actually need those classes," he said.
"We all have to be flexible in this environment but it's really going beyond a joke now unfortunately."
Staff shortages bite
Mr Craft said the problems caused by flight cancellations had been compounded by staff shortages.
While enrolments dropped 94 per cent during 202021, he said the flow of international students had been rapidly increasing but finding qualified English teachers was difficult.
"Many of the teachers have exited the industry and are very wary about returning," Mr Craft said.
He has hired 12 teachers in the past 12 weeks but said "chronic shortages" were still hampering the industry, with many of his teaching staff being skilled migrants.
"I'm not sure the word is, 'irresponsible', of the government, [but] to think that you can completely shut down a country in terms of closing borders and think things could go back to normal after," Mr Craft said.
"There could have been a lot more planning from the government at the time to forecast what was going to happen and how we could meet these shortages."
Mr Craft said the federal government's recent decision to increase the skilled migrant cap to 195,000 "was terrific" but wanted teachers prioritised.