Aviation: AirAsia scraps fuel surcharge
AirAsia's fuel surcharges were by no means the highest in the industry at an average of around USD14 but for a low cost carrier, they made up a substantial portion of the price consumers paid. But from midnight last night, the surcharge has been abandoned entirely.
Tony Fernandez, Group CEO for the conglomerate that AirAsia is becoming with the addition of AirAsiaX, regional "flavours" of AirAsia and Tune Hotels, says he cannot guarantee that fuel surcharges will never return. But he implied what many passengers are saying: that fuel surcharges should be the exception to respond to difficult and unpredictable conditions, not a standard part of the fare charging structure.
AirAsia charges for tickets, and a booking fee plus charging for food, drinks and even carrying hold luggage (no first piece free but the price, at just over USD1 per piece carried if paid at the time of booking can hardly be described as excessive). Passengers who want to avoid the scrum to load can pay an additional USD5 for "Express Boarding" - a service that amazingly few people use.
However, although the range of advertised food and drinks on flights has expanded considerably, the supply is far below that required. For example, a recent Kuala Lumpur to Bali evening flight with just 20 passengers on board had no mineral water, only sugary drinks.
And on a full flight in the other direction, by the time the trolley reached three quarters of the way forward, there was no water, no soft drinks other than Pepsi or juice and food options were reduced to cup noodles and nuts.
That full flight Indonesia AirAsia ex Bali was interesting for another reason: seats were allocated, but passengers getting on the plane did not realise that and adopted the usual system of sitting where they liked.
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