Passengers of Seoul-bound Malaysia Airlines flight entitled to refund, says Mavcom

KUALA LUMPUR: Passengers of the cancelled Malaysian Airlines (MAS) flight from KL International Airport (KLIA) to Seoul, South Korea, will be entitled to a refund, says the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom).

Mavcom director (consumer and public affairs) Pushpalatha Subramaniam said this comes under the latest amendments to the Malaysian Aviation Commission’s (Mavcom) Malaysian Aviation Consumer Protection Code (MACPC) 2016, that came into effect on Sept 2 (Monday).

“Consumers have a choice whether they want to continue the journey or a refund,“ said Pushpalatha during a press conference at Mavcom’s office in Kuala Lumpur on Monday (Sept 2).

According to Pushpalatha, the new amendments under the MACPC 2016 was that passengers will be entitled to refunds if their flights are rescheduled or retimed more than three hours from the original time.

Pushpalatha said the refunds must be given according to the original mode of payment.

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“If they paid by cash, then they will have to refund in cash. If it’s by credit card, then by credit card and if it’s by air miles, then reimbursement will be through air miles.

“It all depends on the mode of payment,” said Pushpalatha.

Earlier Monday (Sept 2), a Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight from KLIA to Incheon International Airport, South Korea, was reported to have turned back early this morning.

This comes after several incidents involving MAS flights.

On Aug 20, a MAS flight MH128 to Melbourne had made an emergency stop at Alice Springs, Australia.

The next day on Aug 21, another MAS flight, MH386, to Shanghai had returned to KLIA.

A similar situation also happened on Aug 22 where MAS flight MH152 to Madinah had returned to KLIA.

According to reports, MAS flight MH66 to Seoul departed at 11.45pm on Sept 1 after a delay from the original departure time of 11pm and landed back at KLIA at 1.29am.

Meanwhile, Pushpalatha said flight ticket prices are expected not to increase following the amendments to the MACPC which took effect on Monday (Sept 2), as compliance to new requirements is not expected to incur significant costs to airlines.

“We are monitoring the prices of domestic air tickets and we table it to the Transport Ministry every month,” said Pushpalatha.

Among the amendments to the MACPC 2016 is that airlines must provide mandatory full refunds to passengers of flights delayed for at least five hours or more.

The refunds must be made within 30 days from the date the complaint is submitted to the airlines and if the complaint remains unresolved, the consumer can submit another complaint to Mavcom.

Passengers whose flights were retimed or rescheduled more than three hours from the original time are also entitled for a refund.

The MACPC’s latest amendments, which came into force on Sept 2, states that refunds had to be offered through the passengers’ initial payment method.

Other amendments to the MACPC, will also see refunds applicable for flights disrupted due to extraordinary circumstances like changing weather patterns.

Airlines that fail to adhere to the amended MACPC will face a maximum penalty of RM200,000 and the penalty would increase ten-fold compared to the first offence.

Prior to the amendments, airlines are only required to provide food, phone calls, and internet access, accommodation and transport from between the hotel and airport, for flights delayed more than five hours.