The Ministry of Transport (MoT) has announced that airlines are now required to give a full refund for flights that are delayed more than five hours.
According to its minister, YB Anthony Loke, this new ruling will take effect from September 2, 2024 onwards, where the full refund option must be offered by airlines to their passengers who do not wish to continue their journey.
Loke also added that the refund period to users is for 30 days, and it will depend on the payment method that the passenger used when purchasing the flight tickets.
“For flight disruptions caused by extraordinary circumstances, airlines are required to first offer a refund in the original mode of payment,” Loke said to Bernama during a press conference today.
“Airlines can also offer alternative reimbursement modes such as travel vouchers or credit shells. However, users have the right to choose the refund mode they want,” the Minister added.
Set to be gazetted later in Sept this year, this new ruling is part of the new improvements made to the Malaysian Aviation Consumer Protection Code 2016 (MACPC) implemented by the MoT via its agency, the Malaysian Aviation Commission (MAVCOM).
Besides the full refund, other improvements made to the MACPC include mandatory refunds of fuel surcharges, taxes, fees, and charges such as emission levies, Passenger Service Charges (PSCs), carbon fees, and others.
“This applies to tickets that have a refund value, and tickets that do not have a refund value for flights that are not taken by the user,” Loke added.
Through these new improvements, Loke said that all cancelled flights must be removed from booking systems, including those from online and offline travel agent platforms.
Failure to comply with the MACPC could result in a maximum financial penalty of RM200,000, while second or subsequent non-compliance offences will be hit with a penalty of ten times the first financial penalty given prior.
Since its introduction in 2016, the MACPC has seen a total of RM4.7 million in financial penalties imposed on airlines for failing to comply with the rules, thus showcasing the effectiveness of the MACPC in providing extra protection to air travel customers.
