AirAsia MOVE denies manipulating airfares, blames 3rd-party glitch
AirAsia MOVE is owned by Capital A Bhd, which also owns budget carrier AirAsia. (EPA Images pic)
PETALING JAYA : AirAsia's online travel booking platform has denied setting or manipulating airfares after the Philippines ordered the website to stop operating in the country over price discrepancies.
AirAsia MOVE said the platform only displayed flight inventory and prices provided by authorised upstream suppliers, adding that this included third-party aggregators and global distribution systems.
'The discrepancies in fare displays for certain routes, including domestic flights operated by Philippine Airlines, were caused by temporary data synchronisation issues with flight pricing partners.
'This technical discrepancy caused by the third-party provider is not isolated to MOVE as it also affected other booking platforms across the industry, including Agoda, Kiwi.com, and Traveloka.
'Upon identifying the issue, MOVE took immediate steps and brought up the matter with the third-party pricing provider for immediate resolution.
'MOVE also took steps to further enhance safeguards to prevent any future recurrence,' it said in a statement.
It said it was working closely with the Philippine authorities and maintained that it was fully compliant with all regulatory requirements.
'MOVE welcomes the opportunity to proactively engage with relevant authorities to provide clarity on the issue and asks for due process to take its course for the benefit of all passengers booked via the platform.'
Earlier, Philippine transportation secretary Vince Dizon said AirAsia MOVE's website was taken down following a cease-and-desist order by the Civil Aeronautics Board.
This followed complaints that the platform was charging high airfares illegally. Dizon said the authorities will also file a 'criminal economic sabotage' case against AirAsia Move.
The platform had reportedly charged 77,000 pesos, or about RM5,880, for a one-way Philippine Airlines flight from Manila to Tacloban City, which was triple the price quoted when directly booking with the airline.
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