KUALA LUMPUR – AirAsia will increase the number of aircraft in stages by July to meet passenger demand, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi said.
He said the commitment was given during a meeting between him and AirAsia yesterday, which was also attended by AirAsia Group executive chairman Datuk Kamarudin Meranun, AirAsia Bhd chief executive officer Riad Asmat, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDNHEP) Secretary-General Azman Mohd Yusof and KPDNHEP Deputy Secretary-General (Consumer Empowerment) Datin Roszanina Wahab.
According to Nanta, through the technical explanation and justification of the series of AirAsia flight delay issues recently, the airline has announced mitigation efforts to prevent a recurrence.
“It includes increasing the number of aircraft in stages (compared to 40 currently) to meet demand, earliest by July, and customer complaints will be resolved through four AirAsia channels,” Nanta said through a post on his official Facebook page.
Apart from that, Nanta said AirAsia Bhd (not AirAsia X) had refunded its passengers without any issues.
According to Nanta, AirAsia also agreed to cooperate regarding consumer issues and the ministry will continue to hold engagement sessions from time to time.
Previously, Nanta had said that the four main causes of AirAsia flight delays were due to the limited number of aircraft, operational and regulatory constraints, technical issues and weather conditions.
He has also refuted allegations that he was taking AirAsia’s side on the issue of the company’s recent flight delays.
Nanta said his ministry understands that airline-related issues fall under the Transport Ministry and the Malaysian Aviation Commission.
However, he said his ministry took proactive steps when receiving complaints from consumers regarding the flight delays and their compensation claims made against the airline.
“Due to the complaints made to the ministry and on the policy of this ministry that oversees consumer affairs, I have contacted AirAsia to seek further clarification on the problems besetting fliers.
“The accusations stating that I favour AiraAsia are unfounded, and I hope it will stop,” he said in a statement.
Nanta said several statements have been issued on social media to share the results of the ministry’s engagement with AirAsia, including the details of the meeting between the ministry and AirAsia’s top management earlier.
He said the statement made was not in favour of AirAsia, and he himself had urged the company to prioritise the welfare of the affected travellers. – Bernama, May 13, 2022
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