Virgin Australia was forced to apologise to passengers after a flight from Bali to Brisbane overnight were left without any working toilets. Media reports from Australia and New Zealand quoted one passenger as saying the experience was “a filthy, humiliating nightmare”.
In a statement, Virgin said the flight took off with one rear toilet out of service but then the remaining two lavatories became unserviceable during the last one hour and 40 minutes of the flight. The airline said the flight on 28 August “experienced an issue during the flight which affected the serviceability of the lavatories”.
“We sincerely apologise to our guests and thank our crew for managing a challenging situation on board. We will be crediting guests for the Denpasar to Brisbane flight and we are proactively reaching out to them to provide this update.”
The airline admitted the flight departed with one rear lavatory out of service, leaving two lavatories serviceable for the flight. It said the decision was made to operate the flight rather than cancel it because of the “limited engineering support in Denpasar”.
“During the flight, the two remaining lavatories became unserviceable. During the last 1 hour and 40 minutes of the flight, all lavatories were out of service. The cause of the issue is currently being investigated,” the airline said.
Media reports quoted one passenger as saying “passengers, including myself, waited over 40 minutes just to access the single toilet at the front of the plane…One elderly woman was unable to hold on and wet herself. It was humiliating and absolutely shocking.” The passengers also said human waste eventually leaked onto the floor. “The crew told us we would have to relieve ourselves in bottles or on top of whatever was already in the toilet,” he said. “Toilets quickly clogged and overflowed with human waste, urine, and used toilet paper. The stench spread through the aircraft, seeping onto the floor.”
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