'Thanks for wrecking my daughter's wedding': Passengers furious after AirAsia flights to Bali are delayed and re-routed... and they were told by text on Christmas Day

Furious Aussie travellers have had their holiday plans ruined when they were sent what they say was the 'the worst text' on Christmas Day – cancelling their flights with just a day's notice.

The Indonesian 'AirAsia' airline had been promoting their new route for months, promising to fly passengers directly from Melbourne to Bali after a December 26 launch.

Instead, they sent out frantic texts on Christmas Day to passengers, informing them that flights from Boxing Day onwards were not only cancelled, but their expected travel time on their new flights was now doubled from five-and-a-half hours to a lengthy 13 hours.

Weddings and travel plans went out the window when the commuters were informed they would now stop over at Kuala Lumpur, meaning many travellers would arrive a day later than they had planned.

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AirAsia X have cancelled their planned Melbourne to Bali flights until further notice after 'unforseen' administration and approval issues

Julie Chumbley (left) is devastated that her daughter's Bali wedding has been 'wrecked' because her immediate family has been stranded by the flight change

Julie Chumbley took to Facebook to express her anger and disappointment at the change and the way the airline conducted themselves

'Thank you for wrecking our family Christmas and my daughters wedding!! My daughter is due to be married on the 28th dec 2014 in bali and my daughter in law is a bridsemade(sic) and my son is walking her down the isle (sic).

'This was until you changed my daughter in laws and sons direct flight from the 27th dec 2014 to leave on the 28th dec with a stop over in kuala lumpur in which they will miss the whole wedding!!' wrote Julie Chumbley.

It all occurred due to an 'administration issue' according to Air Asia. Rumours are flying, unlike the airline, that AirAsia is not authorised by air controllers to fly from Melbourne to Denpasar.

An AirAsia X spokesman confirmed that 'an unforseen delay in the approval process for necessary documentation,' was the reason for the delay. 

'Indonesia AirAsia X is working closely with all relevant authorities including the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and CASA (Civil Aviation Safety Authority) to ensure that the administration process can be completed as soon as possible,' an AirAsia X spokesman told Daily Mail Australia.

'Indonesia AirAsia X will commence the direct return flight from Denpasar to Melbourne as scheduled as soon as this process has been completed.

Passengers have been put on new flights and will now have to change over at Kuala Lumpur airport (pictured)

Nick Brown (left) and Angela Menz (right) are furious that their flights have been cancelled and that they have received 'appalling customer service' by writing messages on Facebook

Travellers are enraged that the airline has been selling tickets for the flights since October, pledging to carry 377 passengers five times a week.

The AirAsia Facebook page has been flooded with angry messages from jilted customers, complaining about the major gaffe.

'You shouldn't have advertised/sold flights under the guise of them being available when they weren't. If you weren't allowed to fly direct from Melbourne – Bali then why advertise that you can?' wrote Dean Schultz.

'I am keen to investigate under ACCC as this surely is false advertising,' added Ann Thorpe.

'This morning (Christmas morning) we got a phonecall from Airasia saying that our flight to Bali which was scheduled to leave at 10:40 am on the 26th of Dec (tomorrow) has been delayed to 05:00 pm and will fly thru KL instead of being a direct flight. We were supposed to reach Bali at 01:00 pm but now we will reach 14 hours later at 03:00 am,' explained Nisha Tahiliani.

Ms Menz is furious that her 'transfers and accommodation' are now going to waste and is concerned that she does not know what will happen with her return flight, which had promised to fly her straight from Bali to Melbourne with AirAsia

Nick Brown was concerned that he had not been contacted about whether or not his December 28 flight would be affected, despite the news that flights were indefinitely grounded

Ms Chumbley is devastated about the impact this decision has had on her daughter's wedding, which was further exacerbated by the 'poor service' they received from AirAsia.

She explained in her Facebook page that that they were 'hung up on fifteen times' while trying to change their flights, and then transferred to a call centre where they encountered a serious language barrier.

'This service is beyond unacceptable and due to this my two kids will miss this very special day and they cannot afford another $1700 each to change their flights!'

'The biggest issue is that it's such short notice that all the other direct flights are more than $1000 direct,' affected traveller Ognjen Zec told Daily Mail Australia. 

Other customers are livid that AirAsia will not compensate the travellers for the prepaid accommodation, transfers and other activities which will be missed due to the last-minute change in their flights.

An AirAsia X spokesman confirmed that 'an unforseen delay in the approval process for necessary documentation,' was the reason for the delay

Traveller Ann Thorpe wrote a bitter message on Facebook, sarcastically posting 'thanks for the Merry Xmas text'

On their Facebook page, AirAsia sent messages to furious customers to apologise for the fiasco.

'The re-route via KL (Kuala Lumpur) is a temporary solution as we work with authorities in the coming days to overcome the issue,' wrote AirAsia on Facebook, not explaining to customers what exactly the 'issue' is which has caused all flights to be cancelled.

Customers were not satisfied by AirAsia's response when they demanded to know how they would be compensated for the lost funds.

'For any extra costs, we recommend you contact your travel insurance provider. This is a temporary issue, and we're working with government agencies to be able to commence our direct services as soon as possible in the near future.'

Nick Brown was pro-active, asking AirAsia on Facebook if they could give him slightly more notice if his December 28 flight was set to be re-routed.

'Any idea if the direct flight from Melbourne to Bali on the 28th departing at 10:40 will be re-routed as well? Thought I'd be proactive and ask here first rather than wait for the news to be delivered by carrier pigeon 7 days after my flight.'

Michelle Sharp will also miss a friend's wedding and is angry that the airline doesn't seem to care, because they already have her 'hard earned money'

Some travellers will arrive at Denpasar Airport more than 24 hours than they had originally planned