A Malaysian couple was forced to extend their stay in Melbourne, Australia for four days after local air carrier AirAsia X delayed their flight.
Taking their grievance to Twitter, the husband, @NazFarid, shared that they had to book accommodation at the last minute and were forced to live in expensive hotels.
Due to their limited budget, they had to reduce their meals to only one a day. In addition, they had to withdraw money from their Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) account, but could not use it immediately due to floating.
According to the air ticket uploaded by the victim, their original flight to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) was scheduled for 2 January at 7.40 pm. However, the victim later received a notice from AirAsia informing the flight cancellation due to operational issues.
Dear YB @anthonyloke i would like to inform our situation (me and my wife) were left stranded in Melbourne because of Airasia airline delayed our flight.
— Nazt F. 🌐 (@NazFarid) January 4, 2023
We’re supposed to board MEL-KUL on 2nd jan, its was cancelled and rescheduled to 6th jan. pic.twitter.com/FecPjtnPFr
The notification letter also stated that another flight to Kuala Lumpur had been arranged for them by the long-haul sister carrier of AirAsia.
Their flight home was then rescheduled for 6 January, where they were supposed to depart the Melbourne International Airport at 2.25 am local time and arrive at KLIA at 7.55 am Malaysian time.
It is not known if there are other affected passengers from this incident.
Meanwhile, the couple claimed that they tried calling AirAsia Australia customer service during the period but did not receive any response. At the same time, they’ve lodged a complaint to the Malaysian Aviation Commission (MAVCOM) through Flysmart and AirAsia on Twitter but to no avail.
He also said that their travel insurance covered up to RM2,000 per person and it was not enough to cover all the additional expenses they incurred.
Our travel insurance only can claim ‘up to’ RM2,000 per person, after we’ve reach Malaysia. At that time our struggle has faded away.
— Nazt F. 🌐 (@NazFarid) January 4, 2023
Is RM2,000 going to compensate what we’ve been through rn?
I don’t know how to resolve this. Hoping with ur help we can see brighter light.
Anthony Loke in action again
The incident has since caught the attention of Transport Minister Anthony Loke and he requested AirAsia to apologise to all those affected. At the same time, he also called on MAVCOM to investigate the matter without delay.
“I take note of your complaint. I will ask AirAsia X’s management to apologise to all affected passengers. MAVCOM will investigate the case,” Loke wrote in a tweet.
In another update, the couple shared that they received an e-mail from MAVCOM requesting consent letters from other passengers.
“Affected passengers of flight D7 219 MEL-KUL that was supposed to depart on 2 Jan at 7.40 am, please DM (direct message) me now as we only have seven days to solve this,” the user said.
At around 10 am on 6 January, the user tweeted again that their flight successfully departed at 3 am and they arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2) at 8 am.
(UPDATE) 5th Jan 2023
— Nazt F. 🌐 (@NazFarid) January 5, 2023
Received email from MAVCOM requesting consent letters from other passengers.
Affected passengers of flight D7 219 MEL-KUL that was supposed to depart on 2nd Jan 2023, 7.40am, please DM me now as we only have 7 days to solve this 🙏#airasiadelay#airasia pic.twitter.com/mFH2Vi17HV
