Starting on Oct. 1, people booking AirAsia flights to Malaysia would not be required to pay booking fees, the Kuala Lumpur-based low-cost carrier announced yesterday.
The policy would apply to AirAsia passengers worldwide, AirAsia Taiwan representative Jessica Tseng (曾郁茹) said.
Currently, the booking fee for flights from Taiwan to Malaysia is NT$220 per person for a one-way ticket.
The company said in a statement that the fee is related to ongoing administrative, maintenance and developmental costs of its online systems to ensure a secure and safe booking environment, which it would fully absorb.
“AirAsia is synonymous with affordable air travel, and by doing this, we will stay true to our promise. Now everyone can fly. We feel this is especially relevant now with higher passenger service charges at klia2 [Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2]. We want to cut travel costs so our guests don’t suffer, and we believe every little helps,” AirAsia Group president for airlines Bo Lingam said.
The airline said it hopes the policy will also encourage more people to travel to and within Malaysia.
“We want to make it an incredible success. This will be great for the tourism industry as well as the Malaysian economy, and it’s one of the ways we want to give back to the country,” Lingam said.
The airline said that it would also remove the processing fees for Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines by Dec. 31.
The current booking fee for flights to any of the three countries is NT$150 per person for a one-way ticket.
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
TRUMP ERA: The change has sparked speculation on whether it was related to the new US president’s plan to dismiss more than 1,000 Joe Biden-era appointees The US government has declined to comment on a post that indicated the departure of Laura Rosenberger as chair of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). Neither the US Department of State nor the AIT has responded to the Central News Agency’s questions on the matter, after Rosenberger was listed as a former chair on the AIT’s official Web site, with her tenure marked as 2023 to this year. US officials have said previously that they usually do not comment on personnel changes within the government. Rosenberger was appointed head of the AIT in 2023, during the administration of former US president Joe
ON PAROLE: The 73-year-old suspect has a criminal record of rape committed when he was serving in the military, as well as robbery and theft, police said The Kaohsiung District Court yesterday approved the detention of a 73-year-old man for allegedly murdering three women. The suspect, surnamed Chang (張), was arrested on Wednesday evening in connection with the death of a 71-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙). The Kaohsiung City Police Department yesterday also unveiled the identities of two other possible victims in the serial killing case, a 75-year-old woman surnamed Huang (黃), the suspect’s sister-in-law, and a 75-year-old woman surnamed Chang (張), who is not related to the suspect. The case came to light when Chao disappeared after taking the suspect back to his residence on Sunday. Police, upon reviewing CCTV
RSS