Beginning March 8, 2022, AirAsia Malaysia (flight code AK) will reintroduce fuel surcharges on all domestic and international flights. AirAsia’s return of the fuel tax is intended to counteract rising jet fuel prices, which have surpassed US $120 per barrel.
Since its abolition in 2015, AirAsia has not charged fuel fees. Instead, the airline has been absorbing the rise in oil prices over time, while other airlines were already altering rates and raising fuel and admin fees to offset increased operating costs as early as 2018.
Fuel surcharge rates for AirAsia Malaysia as of March 8, 2022:
| ROUTES | Fuel Surcharge (RM) |
| All domestic routes ( within Malaysia ) | 10 |
| International routes ( 1-2 hours ) | 25 |
| International routes ( 2-3 hours ) | 35 |
| International routes ( 3-4 hours ) | 50 |
| International routes ( >4 hours ) | 60 |
New flight bookings booked on or after March 8, 2022 will be subject to fuel surcharges. All reservations booked before March 8, 2022, will be unaffected.
Riad Asmat, CEO of AirAsia Malaysia, said: “Airlines the worldover are affected by the rising oil prices and the continuous upward spiral caused by the situation in Eastern Europe and other external factors have made it imperative for us to reintroduce the fuel surcharge, despite our best efforts to resist it for as long as we could.
“Since we last abolished fuel surcharges in 2015 when the global fuel price was as low as US$48 a barrel, we have faced numerous occasions when the fluctuations have caused other airlines to start imposing surcharges. However, at AirAsia, we have been absorbing past increases in oil prices to continue to provide the best value to our guests. Unfortunately, the current situation where the oil price has shot up more than 160% than what it was in 2015 has made it no longer sustainable.
“We hope this will only be a temporary measure. AirAsia will continue to ensure our fares remain as low as possible despite the fuel surcharge while other carriers were already adjusting fares and increasing fuel and admin charges to counter rising operating costs as early as 2018. Even when faced with the devastating Covid-19 pandemic, we still managed to deflect the rising operational costs and continued to offer low fares to the people.
“We will continue to monitor the situation and at the same time capitalise on technological and digital innovations as ways to keep costs at bay and make air travel affordable for everyone.”
For the record, AirAsia has previously eliminated its fuel surcharge. It first implemented a fuel fee in 2005, removed it in 2008, and then reinstated it in 2011. When the price of jet fuel reached a peak of US $78 per barrel in 2015, AirAsia planned to abolish the fuel tax as soon as the price dropped to roughly US $48 per barrel the next year.
