AirAsia abolishes fuel surcharges

Air Asia has abolished fuel surcharges across all of its routes, including long-haul services with AirAsia X.

The low-cost carrier said that, effective immediately, none of its subsidiaries will apply the tax to any domestic or international flight ticket.

“We are a high-value, low-fare airline and we will continue to strive to make flying as affordable as possible,” said AirAsia’s group CEO, Tony Fernandes.

“This decision has been made in November 2014, which was in line with declining global oil prices. However, we are only able to implement it now, but we believe removing fuel surcharge and reducing travel costs will be a huge boost to the tourism industry. This will be a plus point for consumers, but the economy will also benefit from this as the tourism industry is a great job creator.”

AirAsia said the abolition of fuel surcharges will “stimulate more demand for travel and tourism”. It became the first airline to abolish fuel surcharges for all its flights back in 2008, but rising fuel prices forced the fees’ re-introduce in 2011.

The move, which was implemented on 26 January 2015, will now apply to Malaysia’s AirAsia Bhd, Thai AirAsia, AirAsia Indonesia, AirAsia India, AirAsia X, Thai AirAsia X and Indonesia AirAsia Extra. AirAsia Philippines, along with all carriers in the Philippines, removed fuel surcharges earlier this year following a government directive.

Crude oil prices halved by the end of 2014 and have fallen a further 17% in January 2015.