Indonesia AirAsia reduces its presence in Eastern Indonesia

JAKARTA - The recent weakening of the Rupiah – down by 20% on average to the US dollar compared to 2013- is forcing Indonesia AirAsia to revise its strategy. The low cost carrier is sharply reducing its presence in East Indonesia. Beginning June 1st, the airline will close in Surabaya its flights to Makassar and Bangkok.

The largest cut in the network will however affect South Sulawesi capital, Makassar. IAA already closed its routes to Jakarta, Balikpapan and Manado. But on June 1st, the carrier will also terminate routes to Denpasar and Surabaya. The carrier will now only fly four times a week to Kuala Lumpur.

According to Indonesia AirAsia spokesperson Andrey Progastama to Indonesia’s official news agency Antara, the “weakening of rupiah against US dollar has increased our costs significantly thus we need to implement some efficiency measures". In Western Indonesia, the carrier will also finish its Bandung-Johor Bahru flight.

Indonesia AirAsia will offer options to passengers already booked on the closing routes. They will have options for a full refund or a credit shell of the ticket price to be used for another route, eligible six months after the issuance of the ticket.

The carrier plans however to launch before the end of the year a long haul affiliate Indonesia AirAsia X based in Denpasar.

Meanwhile, a new polemic is rising between AirAsia and Kuala Lumpur Airport authority. The carrier started to charge a RM 3 (US$ 0.80) additional fee for passengers flying from the new low cost carrier KLIA2. According to AirAsia website, the klia2 new fee is charged for mandatory klia2 facilities imposed by the airport authorities such as aerobridges and the SITA check-in/boarding systems. However, the airport authority denies to have been involved into that decision. Malaysia Airports Holdings indicated in a statement that “there is no such charge as the 'KLIA2 fee' by the airport".

Sourced: TravelDailyNews