INTERNATIONAL: AirAsia Move, the booking arm of Malaysia-based budget carrier AirAsia, has come under scrutiny in the Philippines, with authorities requesting that the police shut down the booking website due to allegations of unlawfully charging high fares.
A cease-and-desist order has been issued by the country’s Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), according to Vince Dizon, the Secretary of Transportation, on Monday (Jun 2).
Mr. Dizon has asked the CAB to file criminal charges against AirAsia Move due to the excessively high prices it has charged for plane tickets for local carriers to travel to Eastern Visayas, a region in the Philippines currently experiencing a transport crisis.
A congressman from the region, along with his wife, a Mayor, had purchased a pair of Philippine Airlines tickets to the capital, Manila, and were charged Php77,704 (S$1,796). The Philippine News Agency (PNA) quoted Mr Dizon as saying that the two tickets were priced at about three times the price they cost on the airline’s website, where they had been offered at Php12,000 (S$277.30) each.
“Clearly, this is just absurd, and actually criminal. I have asked the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group to take this website down today, so this AirAsia Move can no longer scam others,” he said, adding that he was certain that the congressman and his wife were not the only ones who had been charged excessively high prices.
AirAsia Move’s executives have been summoned to a hearing on Jun 5.
Mr Dizon has also ordered a “criminal economic sabotage case” to be charged against AirAsia Move, given the circumstances. He explained that the crisis affecting the region is due to the partial closure of a bridge connecting two provinces.
“They are taking advantage of the situation,” he added, and has asked the CAB to look into other booking sites if they are similarly charging high fees not only to the affected region but to other areas as well.
“We will really put the full force of the law on these unscrupulous online platforms who are taking advantage of our people,” Mr Dizon said.
Meanwhile, AirAsia Move has stated that it will comply with the cease and desist order, but added that the CAB’s jurisdiction applies to air carriers, not to foreign-based travel agencies.
In a statement, Nadia Omer, the chief executive officer for AirAsia Move, said that the company “also clarifies that it does not manually set or manipulate airfares in light of the fare discrepancy issues.”
The price discrepancy has been attributed to “temporary data synchronization issues with flight pricing partners,” according to the statement.
Ms Omer said that the technical discrepancy caused by the third-party provider also affected booking platforms, including Agoda, Kiwi.com, and Traveloka, and added that the company took “immediate steps” with the third-party pricing provider for immediate resolution.” /TISG
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