KUCHING: Following the eruption of Mount Ruang in the Indonesian Sulawesi Islands, AirAsia is cancelling flights to and from several destinations consistent with Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) Safety Information 09/2024 published at 11.50am on Thursday (April 18).
According to AirAsia, the eruption has resulted in extensive volcanic ash clouds affecting airspace and visibility in the region and the CAAM recognised the situation as a serious threat to aircraft safety and airline passengers.
党As this volcanic eruption has caused a massive disruption to the airline operations and to protect the safety of its guests and aircraft, AirAsia is cancelling flights to and from several destinations consistent with CAAM Safety Information 09/2024 published at 11.50am.
“Flights to and from nine airports, including Kota Kinabalu, Tawau, Sandakan, Labuan, Miri, Sibu, Bintulu, Kuching and Brunei, will be affected by the cancellation starting today, April 18, 2024 at 10am until April 19, 2024 at 8am,” AirAsia said in its press statement posted at its website.
AirAsia said they are committed to prioritising safety during this time and has notified all guests affected by the cancellations.
“Guests who are travelling to and from the affected destinations are encouraged to check their registered email and mobile phones for cancellation notifications.
党AirAsia guests travelling to and from the affected destinations can check their latest flight status at airasia.com/flightstatus.媒
Meanwhile, Group CEO of AirAsia Aviation Group, Bo Lingam, said that the airline understands that the situation may cause inconvenience to the guests and also apologises for the disruption to their guest travel plans.
“However, the safety of our guests and crew is paramount and we appreciate our guests’ understanding and cooperation during this time.
“We will continue to monitor the situation closely and work with relevant authorities including CAAM to assess the conditions for resuming operations to affected destinations.
“We are dedicating all senior executives and resources on ground to ensure the safety of our guests and aircraft amidst these circumstances, and we thank all of our guests for their continued support and patience during this time.”
In light of this event, AirAsia is making the following options available to guests whose flights have been cancelled.
“Guest affected can are allowed to One-time change to any new travel date within 30 days from the original departure date on the same route without additional cost and subject to seat availability.
“Guest also can retain the value of the flight booking in the guest’s airasia Rewards member account for future travel with AirAsia to be redeemed within 730 calendar days (2 years) from the issuance date. The travel date of the new booking can fall on any date within the published flight schedule on airasia.com.”
AirAsia also announced that guests who wish to make booking changes online may do so at airasia.com or AirAsia MOVE (previously known as airasia Superapp).
“From the categories available, click on “Booking Changes” then “Flight Change” and finally “My flight was changed by AirAsia.” From there, simply follow the instructions to make changes to your booking.
“Follow AirAsia on social media @airasia on X and @flyairasia on Instagram or contact our customer support team at support.airasia.com for the latest updates.”
