AirAsia settles over 90 pct of passenger refund so far, says Tony Fernandes

KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia had settled over 90 per cent of passenger refunds thus far, despite financial difficulty faced by the airline industry which was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, and is not expected to face a big hurdle to settle more in a few months time, Capital A Bhd (formerly known as AirAsia Group Bhd) chief executive officer (CEO) Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said.

He said this is considered a remarkable achievement because it is achieved without any financial support from the government and the huge amount involved compared to other airlines as AirAsia was flying about 90 million people pre-COVID-19 period.

"I clearly have to define between AirAsia X and AirAsia. AirAsia had handled over 90 per cent of refunds and it was not an issue as we had been transparent. Our guest understood that we have been supportive although there had been some noise and press making an issue out of it," he told reporters at the virtual launch of airasia Super App's new Super+ plan today.

He said the airline is seeing strong backing whereby it has performed beyond expectation in most domestic markets.

"Refund will be coming as the flight resume. In Malaysia, probably within couple of months and the Philippines within six months," he said.

He said AirAsia X's guests would also be getting vouchers when the airline started flying as a gesture of fairness to the low-cost long haul carrier.

On the Super+ plan, Fernandes said it is the first pass that combined flights and food delivery for a year in a single package, which he described as their equivalent to Amazon Prime and Netflix, and superseded all unlimited passes that were introduced earlier.

Meanwhile, in a statement, airasia Super App said AirAsia is offering 200,000 Super+ subscriptions across four countries -- Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand, for a limited time from today until April 2, 2022.

It said Super+ is an unlimited subscription service that offered unlimited flights with COVID-19 insurance coverage and free food delivery for one year compared with the previous pass, the unlimited free flights which only cover the base fare.

airasia Super App CEO Amanda Woo said Super+ is an unprecedented product in ASEAN which unlocked travel and lifestyle benefits never been seen before.

"We are proud to be the only super app in the market that is able to offer this one-of-a-kind subscription plan that includes both travel and lifestyle products and services, clearly positioning us the preferred provider for the region," she said.

She said air travel is on a strong rebound, especially with various countries across ASEAN announcing the reopening of borders and more vaccinated travel lane (VTL) arrangements.

"Super+ will certainly facilitate affordable and convenient travel for everyone to visit and explore the many destinations within the wide network connectivity of the AirAsia Aviation Group.

"Aside from that, subscribers also have access to the best of what airasia Super App has to offer through its various delivery verticals across the region," she added.

Super+ subscription plan is priced at RM639 in Malaysia, 4,999 baht in Thailand, 2.3 million rupiah in Indonesia and 6,599 peso in the Philippines and can be purchased on the airasia Super App by clicking on the "Super+" icon.

Super+ subscribers will be able to redeem their flights from March 28, 2022 until March 27, 2023 and travel from April 11, 2022 to April 10, 2023.

-- BERNAMA