AirAsia Malaysia Reintroduces Fuel Surcharges

(07 Mar 2022, 12:16 +07)  AirAsia Malaysia (flight code AK) will reintroduce fuel surcharges beginning 8 March 2022 on all domestic and international flights.

The reintroduction of the fuel surcharge is to offset the escalating jet fuel price, which has exceeded US$120 per barrel.

The fuel surcharges will be applicable for new flight bookings made on and after 8 March 2022. All bookings made prior to 8 March 2022 are not affected.

AirAsia has not demanded a fuel surcharge since it was abolished in 2015, but with the increase in jet fuel prices AirAsia Malaysia will issue the following fuel surcharges, effective 8 March 2022:

AirAsia Malaysia CEO, Riad Asmat, said, “Airlines the world over are affected by the rising oil prices and the continuous upward spiral caused by the situation in Eastern Europe and other external factors have made it imperative for us to reintroduce the fuel surcharge, despite our best efforts to resist it for as long as we could.

AirAsia Malaysia A320 reg: 9M-RAI. Picture by Steven Howard of TravelNewsAsia.com

“Since we last abolished fuel surcharges in 2015 when the global fuel price was as low as US$48 a barrel, we have faced numerous occasions when the fluctuations have caused other airlines to start imposing surcharges. However, at AirAsia, we have been absorbing past increases in oil prices to continue to provide the best value to our guests. Unfortunately, the current situation where the oil price has shot up more than 160% than what it was in 2015 has made it no longer sustainable.

“We hope this will only be a temporary measure. AirAsia will continue to ensure our fares remain as low as possible despite the fuel surcharge while other carriers were already adjusting fares and increasing fuel and admin charges to counter rising operating costs as early as 2018. Even when faced with the devastating Covid-19 pandemic, we still managed to deflect the rising operational costs and continued to offer low fares to the people.

“We will continue to monitor the situation and at the same time capitalise on technological and digital innovations as ways to keep costs at bay and make air travel affordable for everyone.”

AirAsia has twice removed its fuel surcharge in the past. It first introduced a fuel surcharge in 2005 and abolished it in 2008, reintroducing it in 2011. In 2015 the price of jet fuel hit a high of US$78 per barrel and the airline decided to remove the surcharge once it fell to around US$48 per barrel that year.