AirAsia MOVE, the Malaysia-based online travel booking platform, has denied allegations of airfare price manipulation and clarified that it does not have the capability to manually input or alter ticket prices on its platform.
“MOVE also clarifies that it does not manually set or manipulate airfares in relation to the fare discrepancy issues,” the company said in a statement.
This comes in light of recent concerns over unusually high fares displayed for the Tacloban to Manila route.
In a statement issued by AirAsia MOVE CEO Nadia Omer, the company explained that all flight prices shown on the MOVE app are sourced directly from authorized third-party suppliers, including Global Distribution Systems (GDS) and aggregators that also provide inventory to other online travel agencies (OTAs) such as Agoda, Traveloka, and Kiwi.com.
“The discrepancies in fare displays for certain routes, including domestic flights operated by Philippine Airlines, were caused by temporary data synchronization issues with flight pricing partners,” the company explained.
This clarification follows a cease and desist order issued by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) against AirAsia MOVE, after Leyte 4th District Representative Richard Gomez encountered an unusually high airfare while attempting to book a flight.
AirAsia MOVE assured the public that the issue was swiftly identified and escalated to its third-party pricing provider, who has since resolved the technical error.
“This issue was not unique to MOVE. Other booking platforms across the industry were similarly affected,” the company added, noting that additional safeguards have been implemented to prevent future discrepancies.
The company also expressed its commitment to due diligence and compliance with all regulatory standards for OTAs in the country.
AirAsia Move affirmed its full cooperation with the Philippine government to uphold transparent and fair pricing practices, as well as to protect consumer welfare.”
Omer further said the company is committed to cooperating for the benefit of all passengers who booked through the platform.
