Philippines’ AirAsia re-aligns operations in Clark Airport

FILE PHOTO

CLARK, PAMPANGA – Philippines’ AirAsia will be temporarily suspending flights to Davao, Kalibo, Taipei and Hong Kong from Clark International Airport effective October 9.

Flights between Clark and Hong Kong, however, will continue to operate from Dec. 20, 2013 until Jan. 6, 2014 to cater to the strong holiday demand.

Maan Hontiveros, Chief Executive Officer of Philippines’ AirAsia said, “The temporary suspension is primarily to manage costs following the recent grounding of Zest Air by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP). This has affected many factors and allocating necessary resources such as aircraft and crew is critical to ensure its recovery.”

“Right now we need to focus our resources to support Zest Air where we have significant economic interest, and we believe in Zest Air’s potential with their Manila based operations,” added Hontiveros.

Philippines’ AirAsia holds a 49 percent in Zest Air, a low-cost carrier operating in Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), Manila; and Zest Air will be carrying the AirAsia brand once it is approved by the CAAP.

Affected guests holding flight bookings for these flights will be notified of the route suspension via their registered member email account as well as an SMS notification. An AirAsia customer service representative will also call each affected guest on the options available to them to alleviate the inconvenience caused.

AirAsia urges all guests to keep their email addresses and mobile numbers with their country code prefix updated in their AirAsia member profiles to ensure that the airline can reach them for assistance.

Affected guests going to Kalibo and Davao will be able to choose among the following options:

* One-time transfer, at no extra cost and subject to availability, to an earlier flight of the same route;

* One-time transfer, at no extra cost and subject to availability, to Zest Air flights of the same destination from Manila (NAIA Terminal 4)

* Conversion of the value of the total fare to an online credit shell with a validity period of 180 days

* Full refund

Meanwhile, affected guests bound for Taipei and Hong Kong will be offered the following:

* One-time transfer, at no extra cost and subject to availability, to an earlier flight of the same route

* Conversion of the value of the total fare to an online credit shell with a validity period of 180 days

* Full refund

Affected guests who did not receive any notifications are advised to call +632.7422742, and access an eForm through https://www.airasia.com/my/en/e-form.page with their booking reference numbers and contact details at hand.