KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) has indicated that it was dissatisfied with Batik Air’s explanation over the communication of a flight disruption on Dec 22, 2022 to customers and issued a show-cause letter to the airline on Jan 12, 2023.

In a statement today, the commission said it had instructed Batik Air Sdn Bhd to submit its representation in writing regarding the delay of flight OD 7634 from Kuala Lumpur (KL) to Kuching.

The flight was scheduled to depart from KL to Kuching at 11.35 pm on Dec 22, 2022 but was delayed by eight hours and eventually departed at 7.45 am on Dec 23, 2022, affecting 170 passengers.

“Batik Air did provide the information to Mavcom pertaining to the flight disruption of OD 7634 from KL to Kuching.

“However, evidence to substantiate the information was insufficient to conclude if Batik Air took all measures to communicate to affected consumers about the flight delays that occurred on that day,” it said.

Meanwhile, Mavcom said its investigation regarding the cancellation of flight D7 219 by AirAsia X Bhd from Melbourne to KL on Jan 2, 2023, revealed that all affected consumers were notified by the airline of the cancelled flight via SMS as well as via e-mail on Dec 30, 2022.

“Based on the reports and evidence obtained from AirAsia X and the affected consumer, the airline had communicated the flight disruption to the affected consumer and provided options to rebook their flight from Melbourne to KL from Jan 1, 2023 until Dec 31, 2023, subject to availability.

“AirAsia X was also able to reallocate other affected consumers of flight D7 219 on flights between Jan 3 and Jan 7, 2023,” it added.

Mavcom noted that its findings indicated that AirAsia X offered options to mitigate the flight disruption for the affected consumer in accordance with the Malaysian Aviation Consumer Protection Code 2016 (MACPC), which is to provide consumers with a refund or an alternative flight at the earliest opportunity or at a later date at the passenger’s convenience, in the event of a flight cancellation.

Meanwhile, Mavcom said that depending on the nature and extent of any non-compliance with the MACPC, airlines may be imposed a financial penalty of up to RM200,000 for the first offence and 10 times the penalty for a second or subsequent non-compliance.

“To date, the commission has imposed a total of RM4.7 million in financial penalties on airlines for non-compliance with the MACPC,” it added. – Bernama / pic TMR File