Woman ‘not too hopeful’ of STA refund

IT is unfortunate for a Dunedin woman that her airline dealt with flight refunds so quickly.

Alice Morrison (22) had to cancel her trip to Europe this year but her refund from Singapore Airlines made it only as far as STA Travel, which has gone into voluntary administration.

The airline released her refund back in July.

STA Travel’s parent company STA Holdings AG announced on August 21 it was filing for insolvency, after the Covid19 pandemic brought the industry to a standstill.

On August 24, administrators were appointed for the New Zealand arm of the international network.

Miss Morrison has joined the list of unsecured creditors.

‘‘I’m not too hopeful,’’ she said.

‘‘Realistically, it’s a losing battle.’’

She said she wondered what STA Travel did with her refund and the refunds owed to other customers.

Administrators David Webb and Colin Owens, of Deloitte, held their first meeting with creditors on Thursday last week.

Miss Morrison missed the 9am videoconference, because she had been led to believe it was to be held at 1.30pm that day.

Her trip had been due to start in June and she had planned to spend two years overseas.

STA Travel is an agency specialising in youth travel.

Its 11 stores in New Zealand have closed and its website has been taken offline.

Overseas companies in the STA Travel group have also gone into various forms of insolvency administration.

The administrators have described STA Travel’s affairs as ‘‘disorganised’’.

They are required to hold another meeting this month to decide the future of the company.