“For everyone”: Why isn’t AirAsia living up to slogan with exorbitant airfares amid GE15?
WHY the high ticket fares? With the Election Commission (EC) announcing polling date on Nov 19, we can anticipate Malaysians returning to their respective hometowns to cast their votes, with the announcement many had started purchasing tickets online mostly through the AirAsia website but were shocked upon discovering that air fares had soared with returning tickets to and fro Kuching costing up to RM700.
Such exorbitant flight fares are nothing but ridiculous! During pre-pandemic years, the writer was able to purchase return tickets to Kuching for less than RM200. Moreover, while we are still in a pandemic, the cost of a return air fare to Bangkok was even cheaper when I only paid RM480 during my travel in July.
The question is, why doesn’t AirAsia live up to its slogan, “For everyone”. Isn’t a low cost airline such as AirAsia supposed to be offering cheaper air fares for travellers and mind you these are just domestic tickets.
Although it has always been the case where air fares to East Malaysia have always been on the costlier side, and the price of air tickets to be more expensive especially if it’s closer to the travel date, this reasoning does not give AirAsia the privilege of increasing its flight tickets double fold.
The airline’s exorbitant fares had resulted in an outrage amongst Malaysians especially those from East Malaysia who intend to return to exercise their democratic right by casting their vote come the 15th General Election (GE15).
In response, the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) in a Bernama report said the commission will regulate the prices of flight tickets to ensure that airlines do not hike prices arbitrarily ahead of GE15.
Caretaker transport minister Datuk Wee Ka Siong said although air fares would normally increase according to the dynamic price mechanism if there was an event involving a large number of passenger movements, Mavcom would not hesitate to take action if airlines were found to have raised prices against the set conditions.
“Based on the dynamic pricing mechanism for any airline in the world, the earlier it (the ticket) is booked, the cheaper it is and the closer to a date or event, the price will be higher,” he said yesterday (Oct 20).
Meanwhile, recognising the need of voters returning to their hometowns to cast their vote, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and Firefly have offered discounted fares of up to 20% to get voters back on time to vote.
MAS has launched its ‘Jom Balik Mengundi’ with a 20% discount on domestic airfares much to the relief of many passengers.
In a statement, the national carrier said those intending to return home can book their tickets from Thursday (Oct 20) to Nov 19 (polling day) for travel between Nov 11 and 27.
“The 20% discount applies to all fare categories: Lite, Basic and Flex for Economy Class, and Basic and Flex for Business Class.”
On a good note, the airline will also add additional 26 flights and operate 16 domestic flights with wide-body A33o aircraft after an increase in demand on several routes in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.
Meanwhile, Firefly will offer up to 70 additional flights from Subang and Penang to selected domestic routes from Nov 17 to 20, with 24% and 10% discounted fares for jet and ATR-operated flights respectively. Passengers can start booking from Thursday until Oct 24 and travel from Nov 1 to June 30 next year.
Adding on to discounted ticket prices, MASwings customers travelling from Miri to Mulu, Sandakan to Lahad Datu and Bintulu to Sibu, can book flights starting at RM135 for one-way, all-in fares.
The three major airlines in the country have already reduced airfares for the convenience of Malaysians, will AirAsia now follow suit?
The writer has no issue with the airline, in fact AirAsia has always been my preferred choice of airline when it comes to regional and domestic travel and has never had any major issue with the airlines when it comes to refunds and flight cancellations. – Oct 21, 2022
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