AirAsia to remove processing fees for Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — Asia’s largest low-cost airline AirAsia is set to remove processing fees for the Philippines starting next year to keep air travel affordable.

The AirAsia Group, in a statement over the weekend, said it will remove processing fees for Malaysia for bookings made from Oct. 1 and for Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines by Dec. 31.

The processing fee is a charge related to the ongoing administrative, maintenance and developmental costs of AirAsia’s online systems to ensure a secure and safe booking environment.

Going forward, AirAsia said it would fully absorb the costs.

“AirAsia is synonymous with affordable air travel, and we hope that by doing this, we will stay true to our promise – now everyone can fly. We want to cut travel costs so our guests don’t suffer, and we believe every little helps,” AirAsia Group president Bo Lingam said.

The AirAsia Group is the leading and largest low-cost carrier in Asia, servicing the most extensive network of over 135 destinations across all ASEAN countries, Asia, India, Australia, China, Middle East and Hawaii in the US.

In the Philippines, AirAsia has stayed committed to giving its customers the lowest air fares possible as it continues to shun away from adding fuel surcharge to fares.

Since the Civil Aeronautics Board allowed the imposition of the passenger fuel surcharge for domestic and international flights in September last year, AirAsia has yet to avail themselves of the fuel surcharge mechanism.

AirAsia Philippines operates a fleet of 24 aircraft on more than 500 weekly domestic and international flights from its hubs in Manila, Clark, Cebu and Kalibo.

Last month, AirAsia Philippines appointed telecommunications executive Ricardo “Ricky” Isla as its new chief executive officer to pilot the company in its next stage of growth and profitability.