KUALA LUMPUR: Low-cost carrier AirAsia is set to resume its scheduled domestic flights on April 29.
It said this would be followed by resumption of domestic flights in Thailand and the Philippines on May 1; India (May 4) and Indonesia (May 7), subject to approval from the authorities.
The resumption of services will initially be for selected key domestic routes, which will increase gradually to include international destinations around the network, once the situation improves and governments lift borders and travel restrictions.
President (Airlines) of AirAsia Group, Bo Lingam said they were very pleased to be able to fly again and to serve their guests starting with domestic routes, and were hopeful of resuming full operations as soon as possible.
“We have undertaken a thorough review of our guest handling procedures both on ground and onboard in light of the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said in a statement, here, today.
He added that AirAsia has been working closely with the airport authorities to ensure that all the relevant precautionary measures were in place to ensure a safe, pleasant and comfortable journey for everyone.
“At AirAsia, the safety and wellbeing of our guests and employees are always our highest priority. We work actively with all our regulators, local governments, civil aviation and health authorities, including adhering to guidance from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to ensure the highest standards of compliance and conformance are in place for every single flight we operate in our network,” Lingam said.
Flights are already open for booking via the airasia.com website and mobile app. Guests may use their credit accounts to redeem these flights.
The AirAsia Group temporarily reduced or entirely suspended their flight operations due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In Malaysia, the airline temporarily suspended all flight services from March 28 onwards, with its long-haul flights subsidiary, AirAsia X, suspending most but not all flights.
AirAsia India has suspended all operations since March 25, following a government-issued nationwide lockdown in the country.
Philippines AirAsia has cancelled its flights from March 20 until April 14 because of "community quarantine" in parts of the island nation.
Thai AirAsia on the other hand has not given up entirely and was still operating domestic services at reduced frequencies. However, international flights have been suspended since March 22 until April 25. Its long-haul arm, Thai AirAsia X, stopped flying on March 16.
Indonesia AirAsia is continuing to operate both domestic and international flights, but at reduced frequencies.