Friday the 13th turned into a travel nightmare for some 300 Jetstar passengers bound for Australia.

The low-cost carrier canceled its Honolulu-to-Sydney flight Thursday as well as a flight yesterday to Melbourne because of mechanical problems, Jetstar spokeswoman Simone Pregellio said.

While Jetstar was able to book some passengers on other airlines, the bulk of its customers had to be put up in Waikiki hotels until the problem could be fixed or the passengers could be placed on alternative flights.

Pregellio said the airline hopes to get all 300 passengers on Australia-bound flights by today.

"This is not a situation that we had hoped for," she said.

"We understand that this is a difficult situation for our passengers, but safety is our number one issue."

Wayne Gobert of Sydney said his family has endured a nightmarish experience after their Thursday flight was canceled.

Gobert, a manager with an insurance company, said the airline put them up in a Waikiki hotel Thursday night after the first flight was canceled, then took them to the airport 7 a.m. yesterday morning.

The airline kept them at the airport's departure lounge until 5 p.m. yesterday before taking them back to a hotel without their luggage, Gobert said.

Gobert, his wife and his daughter are frequent travelers to the Islands, but he said their latest experience "makes you want to never come back here."

"It's been an absolute disaster. ... People are so angry right now," Gobert said.

"This is a great way to ruin a holiday."

Pregellio said the cancellations were caused by problems with the aircraft's fuel indicator.

She said company mechanics are working on the problem and had hoped to have it fixed by last night.

Jetstar flies from Honolulu to Sydney and Melbourne using the same Airbus A330-200 aircraft. Thursday's flight to Sydney was to return to Honolulu, which in turn was to be used for yesterday's Honolulu-to-Melbourne flight.

Jetstar, the budget airline owned by Qantas Airways, flies three weekly flights to Sydney and two weekly flights to Melbourne.

The airline launched its Sydney-to-Honolulu service Dec. 27. However, its inaugural Melbourne-to-Honolulu flight was canceled Dec. 31 because of mechanical problems.

Reach Rick Daysog at rdaysog@honoluluadvertiser.com.