Christmas blow for domestic helpers in Hong Kong as flights home don’t exist

Travel plans for scores of foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong who were hoping to return home for Christmas and New Year have been thrown into disarray as the flights they paid for do not exist.

Air tickets bought through Peya Travel, an agency specialising in flights popular with domestic helpers, could not be confirmed, meaning travellers who have been turning up at the airport since Sunday have discovered they did not have a seat on a plane.

The company has given few answers and even fewer cast-iron guarantees but customers fear the firm is in financial difficulties.

On Tuesday, as word spread that the travel agency was in trouble, a confused and angry crowd crammed into – and spilled out of – the agency’s tiny cubicle shop in World-Wide House in Central to demand answers, refunds and rebooking alternatives.

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Those hit believed anywhere between 200 and 1,000 people were affected. Customers who sought help in-store were told by the agency there was no guarantee they would receive refunds for flights – with no explanations given.