KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 8 — AirAsia is ramping up its flight operations to meet growing passenger demand and with its continuing fleet expansion by year-end, this will help meet demand for air connectivity.

"AirAsia is the people’s airline and we will strive to fill the gaps where there is demand. We aim to cover as much ground as possible supported by the fleet expansion from 79 to 92 aircraft in Malaysia by the end of December,” AirAsia Aviation Group deputy group chief executive officer (airline operations) Datuk Captain Chester Voo told Bernama.

"These aircraft are either newly delivered or returning to service post-Covid (and) with 92 aircraft, we will deploy as many as we can to fill the gaps based on demand,” he said.

He cited how AirAsia could fill in key routes to Sabah, Sarawak, China, Indonesia and Thailand that were within its reach.

Captain Chester was responding to questions on AirAsia’s response to Malaysia Aviation Group’s (MAG) Aug 24 announcement to reduce flights and routes between now and December 2024. MAG operates Malaysia Airlines.

The move had reportedly led to increased passenger demand for alternative airlines and routes.

The decision comes in response to recent service disruptions to ensure the fleet’s long-term reliability and operational robustness, which affected Malaysia Airlines, Firefly, and Amal services during the week of Aug 19, 2024.

Flight disruptions inevitable, Malaysia Airlines not alone

Captain Chester explained that flight disruptions, or rather retiming, are an unavoidable aspect of airline operations.

"It does not just affect local airlines. It affects everyone. Local airlines may currently be in the spotlight, but this is a widespread issue (affecting all airlines),” he said.

He pointed out that climatic factors, especially bad weather, are a common issue. For instance, an average heavy downpour in Malaysia could last 30 to 45 minutes.

"During this time, some aircraft might be able to land but some might have to be diverted. So the aircraft that was scheduled to enter Kuala Lumpur had to be diverted elsewhere. It may take an hour to get there and transit (back to its original destination) after the weather improves,” he said.

Additionally, the aircraft will need "to get a new slot” before it can fly back to Kuala Lumpur.

"That will take three hours easily. When it returns to continue to the next sector, affected passengers experience a three-hour delay.”

"With more than 500 flights a day, this can affect 25 to 30 flights,” he said, alluding to the adverse snowball effect.

Another unavoidable factor is when an aircraft develops an ad hoc technical problem that may come in many forms. This results in the plane turning back or flying to the nearest airport that can offer the needed (technical) support.

"If you have a technical problem and it does not jeopardise safety, you can continue operating. For certain issues, that may not be possible and immediate repairs are needed,” he said.

He said one of the ways to deal with such situations would be to have spare aircraft.

"Even then, (in situations where) nine to 10 flights are diverted simultaneously, there is no airline that will have nine to 10 spare aircraft sitting on the ground to help recover all flights.

"So, they will start mixing and matching to keep the schedule so that everybody gets to their destinations,” he said.

As for AirAsia, he said the low-cost carrier carries two to three spare aircraft per day based on its operation size.

He also thanked the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) Air Traffic Controllers, Malaysia Airports and the Transport Ministry for cooperating when AirAsia needed airport extensions to complete flights due to disruptions.

"Successful airline operations need the cooperation from all relevant stakeholders,” he said.

AirAsia to review refund policy

In response to recent regulatory changes, Captain Chester said AirAsia, in full compliance with government regulations, will review its existing refund policy to fulfil the new requirements.

He highlighted AirAsia’s improvements in customer service. Response times improved to an average of 1.7 minutes in 2024 from 26 minutes in 2021, and the complaints resolution rate rose to 84 per cent from 67 per cent in 2021.

"We still have a 16 per cent gap, but we are working to address this daily. We strive to improve continuously,” he said.

Earlier this week, the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) announced that the Malaysian Aviation Consumer Protection Code 2016 (MACPC) mandates airlines to issue refunds to consumers in the original mode of payment within 30 days.

"When discussing compensation and consumer protection, it is important to consider the entire ecosystem, including airlines, airport operators, and air traffic control. Some delays are caused by factors beyond the consumer chain including weather,” Captain Chester said.

Increased passenger traffic for Asean 2025

With Malaysia set to host the Asean Summit next year, AirAsia is preparing for a surge in passenger traffic and plans to enhance service quality and increase its fleet.

"We expect more aircraft to enter the system next year, including new A321s for 2025, although this depends on parts, components, and the aircraft supply chain,” he said.

He noted that the airline has no immediate plans to retire any aircraft in 2025 and 2026. The fleet’s average age is currently 10.8 years, which is relatively young and is below the benchmark for heavy maintenance.

AirAsia operates over 50 routes from Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu, with India and China being its two largest markets, supported by visa-free travel initiatives.

"In the next two years, we hope to expand our presence in other cities in Africa and South Asia,” he added. — Bernama