Another tale of woe for Real Tonga... this letter was sent to the editor of Matangi Tonga Online by a German tourist... This must be destroying the Tongan tourist industry!
We spent two beautiful weeks on
the islands of Tongatapu and Ha’apai. However, we faced some problems with the
domestic airline Real Tonga. We hope that our story about the problems we faced
with the domestic airline contributes to an improved situation for travellers. When
we planned our trip to Tonga we wanted to take the ferry from Tongatapu to
Ha'apai and back again – but we found we had to book a flight back in order to
catch our connecting flight back to Auckland. After arriving in Nuku'alofa we
were told that the ferry would not come as planned - but we had already booked
our accommodation in Ha‘apai - so again, we were forced to book a flight in
order to get there.
Early departure
The flight departure was supposed
to be at 4:30 pm, so we spend the morning walking in Nuku'alofa. We checked our
emails around 11:00am and were surprised to find another eTicket sent by Real
Tonga. We opened the pdf-file just out of curiosity and noticed that departure
time was at 1:00pm! Nothing was mentioned in the email itself! Our host in the
guesthouse in Nuku‘alofa rang them for us to confirm this change - so we had to
rush to the airport. While waiting for departure at the airport we met several
people who were stuck in Nuku'alofa for four days and who were really upset
about it.
Worried
At the new guesthouse in Ha'apai
we met a Dutch girl, whose flight back to Tongatapu had been cancelled twice
because of the weather conditions. She was really desperate and we heard that
in the end she had to take the ferry back. I was getting a bit worried by that
time - we had heard so much about delays and cancellations. We had a great time
in Ha‘apai - except for the fact how hard it was to get cash - we learned about
that when we were already in Pangai! We had informed ourselves before we got to
this remote group of islands and no one knew that the bank shut down and
according to all our sources (internet, Jasons tourist brochure) there was
supposed to be an ATM in Pangai. We could sort things out in the end but we
heard a lot of complaints – not only by tourists.
Flight cancelled
Our flight back from Ha‘apai to
Tongatapu was supposed to be on Wednesday 11 September at 3:20 pm, but after
checking on Tuesday night we were told our flight got cancelled due to the
weather forecast (apparently that was not the reason because the weather was
just fine!). We had to reschedule both our connecting flights to Auckland and
Sydney. That stopover in Auckland was necessary as we had some baggage left
behind that we could not bring to Tonga (paying an extra bag was expensive). We
heard about another flight to Tongatapu that was supposed to depart at 10:20am
Wednesday. We caught a boat to Pangai the next morning and thought we might
make it! We were picked up at the wharf in Pangai by our host and taken to
Lindsey's Place, the guesthouse with the Real Tonga office nearby.
Stranded
There we were told that there was
no flight that day and that we would have to take another flight the next
morning. The lady in the office said she would reschedule the connecting
flights for us. She could not tell us at that time when our flight(s) the next
day would be but she mentioned that we were likely not to catch an airplane to
Auckland before Friday. So we were stranded and spent the night in the same
guesthouse. We were given 50 TOP by the office lady to cover the costs for
dinner and she said the airline would pay the guesthouse as well, so no costs
for us! She also said that she would let us know about the departure time for
the Ha'apai- Tongatapu flight. But she did not come and tell us (although she
had said so after being asked and asked by us) and I only got information when
I went to see her several times and finally, late in the evening, she could
tell me that we were on the list for the next day, check-in 10:00 am. However,
she still had no information about the international flights.
Five hours wait
The next morning (Thursday,
12/9/13) she took us to the airport around 7:00am. We spent almost 5 hours
waiting at the airport in Pangai because (what a surprise!) check-in was NOT at
10:00am, but somewhere around 11:45am. Of course, no one could give us any
information on that matter either and we needed to ask several times - no one
came to provide us with information. Also about the procedure after our arrival
in Nuku'alofa - what would happen? How could we get information on our
international flights? After asking question after question, the lady said
there would be a transport for us to the Air New Zealand office where we could
confirm our flights. She did mention also that we would have to pay for the
rescheduled flights. When we asked about the accommodation in Nuku'alofa she
said, Real Tonga would cover the costs and that we would spend the night at the
Scenic Hotel.
Fly to Vava'u first
When we were finally aboard the
aircraft we were told that we had to go to Vava'u first to refuel. After our
arrival on the Tongatapu domestic, we did not know what to do next - and
neither did the airport staff! When we told them that we had been promised a
transport to the Air New Zealand office, they clearly had no idea what we were
talking about. We asked for the person that according to the lady in the
Ha’apai office, was the one that would take care of us in Nuku'alofa. But she
had no idea what was going on.
Another hour
We explained our situation to her
and finally she arranged a transport with a staff bus - we had to wait for this
bus for another hour and it still did not come! So we asked again and again and
finally, another staff member called someone to pick us up (instead of the
bus). They took us to the Real Tonga office. There again, we had to explain our
situation because they didn't know either about it! They just sent us to the
Air New Zealand office - as if we were their problem now! I was really upset
about the way we were rejected! When we asked about the accommodation for the
night we were told that this was none of their business. According to the Real
Tonga policy it was only their job to get us from Ha'apai to Nuku'alofa.
Anything else was our problem and we were the ones to take care of it -
including the rescheduling of the internationals!
Running with baggage
The lady in the Real Tonga main
office could not help us any further, so we rushed to the Air New Zealand
office.! It was 4:50 pm and the office closes at 5:00 pm. We had no idea where
it was and the lady in the Real Tonga office had not given us the correct
directions! So we had to run (with all our baggage) and look for it.
Cost of rescheduling
In the Air New Zealand office we
were treated really nicely and the lady was the first really helpful person
that day! But we had to pay 2484 TOP for the flights. Real Tonga would not pay
a single cent. We returned to the Real Tonga office to claim a letter of
confirmation that was proof of the cancellation made by Real Tonga and the
resulting flights that we had missed. At least, we got a letter each. So, we
would leave Tonga the next day. We had to pay for dinner and the last night in
Nuku'alofa ourselves, which was in total about 140 TOP.
No communication
So, that's the story! What upset
us the most was the fact that no one seemed to care - it was always up to
ourselves to go and ask questions, try to get some information! The lady in the
Ha'apai office gave us mainly wrong information – but we are convinced that she
did not know better and she did her best to help. But there seems to be no
communication at all between Ha‘apai and Nuku‘alofa. We still do not know why
the flight had been cancelled (we heard several stories - from weather to no
petrol to mechanical problems at the aircraft.). The travel back to Tongatapu
took us the whole day consisting mainly of waiting and waiting! Customer
service was as good as non-existent, which is a shame thinking of all the
friendly Tongan people that we met elsewhere!
We really hope that the situation
will improve and that maybe our story contributes to a change. We met many
travellers with similar or exactly the same problems with Real Tonga. All of
them had to pay considerable amounts of money for something Real Tonga had
caused and all of them felt left alone by the airline. We had two fantastic
weeks in Tonga but the last two days have been a nightmare. We would love to
come back one day - if there is a better and improved airline system.
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