Thousands of passengers have been left stranded by the collapse of budget airline Air Australia.<br/> <br />The Brisbane-based carrier flies to Thailand, Hawaii and Bali.<br/> <br />Here at Phuket in Thailand travellers seemed to be taking the crisis in their stride.<br/> <br />SOUNDBITE: Australian tourist Tyson Bradshaw saying (English):<br/> <br />"Mum booked a flight for me tomorrow morning and a few other friends and that's going to Singapore and from there (we have) got to wait there for a couple of days, then go to Melbourne.<br/> <br />SOUNDBITE: Australian tourist Trevor Evans saying (English):<br/> <br />"We've been here two weeks so if we have to stay here a little bit longer we don't mind. (It's a) very nice place."<br/> <br />Some 300 staff at Air Australia face an uncertain future after the airline went into voluntary administration.<br/> <br />Passengers booked onto Air Australia's domestic flights in Melbourne on Friday faced more immediate uncertainty.<br/> <br />SOUNDBITE: Unidentified stranded passenger saying (English):<br/> <br />"The most frustrating thing is no-one here to help us or anything."<br/> <br />SOUNDBITE: Unidentified stranded passenger saying (English):<br/> <br />"Yes, we've tried calling and no-one's answering the phones or anything."<br/> <br />SOUNDBITE: Unidentified stranded passenger saying (English):<br/> <br />"Extremely disappointed but anyway, what can you do?"<br/> <br />The firm, previously called Strategic Airlines, rebranded itself as Air Australia in November last year.<br/> <br />Apart from it international flights it also has domestic routes between Melbourne, Perth, Port Hedland and Brisbane.<br/> <br />Administrator Mark Korda says they're looking a for a rescuer.<br/> <br />SOUNDBITE: Mark Korda, voluntary administrator, saying (English):<br/> <br />"What we'll do is, our priority is the passengers and the employees, then the next phase will be 'Can this business be sold as as a going concern? Can we find a white knight?' and then we'll do our investigation. So, the next 48 hours, we'll go through that process."<br/> <br />Air Australia's fleet was grounded on Friday when it emerged the airline didn't have enough cash for fuel or basic operational needs.<br/> <br />Paul Chapman, Reuters
