Cheap flights fail to take off 

A Dutch airline is facing an angry backlash from disappointed New Zealand passengers after it cancelled cheap Europe flights booked on the internet.

KLM says the bargain basement prices were a mistake but the Commerce Commission will look into complaints that the flights should be honoured.

Klaus Buwert and Ryan Fairless couldn't believe their luck when they booked return flights from Auckland to London for $354 each. They say they ordered tickets in good faith and "were quite excited about the fact that we got them".

E-tickets were issued and the flights were confirmed by KLM and a local travel agent.

"When I contacted Harvey World Travel they advised me that they were under the impression that the fare was valid," says Fairless.

Part of the journey was a code share with Air New Zealand, who also confirmed the booking.

But when the pair visited KLM's Auckland office, management said the fares were a mistake although they would still be able to travel.

"He said that they would honour the offer because they didn't want to get into trouble with the Commerce Commission," Buwert says.

However KLM's Amsterdam headquarters has now cancelled the bookings.

The Commerce Commission says KLM could be forced to honour the cancelled bookings if the airline didn't act quickly enough to withdraw the cheap fares and if passengers had made other financial commitments for things like connecting flights and hotels.

KLM has blamed the mistake on technical reasons and incorrect data entry on its New Zealand website - which is now closed for maintenance.

And while the fares may have seemed too good to be true, Buwert and Fairless say it's not uncommon to get cheap deals with European airlines.

They want KLM to honour the ticket and the company might have to do just that if it wants to avoid a public relations disaster.