Air Asia has provided a low-cost way to travel to places as far off as UK and the Middle East. However, before it expands too quickly, Air Asia should take a good look at its capability to support on-time travel for not just their long haul flights but also their short local flights for delays often results in very disgruntled passengers. Read on for our terrible experience with Air Asia in just a span of one month!

Air Asia Delayed Flights For Over 2 Hours

I have booked an Air Asia return flight down to Singapore several weekends ago. I was initially rather impressed as Air Asia lands in Terminal 1 of Changi Airport which means you actually get to walk around Changi’s superb Duty Free shops instead of the Budget Terminal which has much fewer choices. On my return journey, I had to queue to collect some tax returns which took most of my time then ran to the boarding gate as the boarding sign was already flashing. However, when I arrived, the minutes ticked past and soon, we were past the 4.30pm departure time and still no news of boarding. Worse, there was not even a single announcement made by the ground crew to inform us of any delays in the flight. Soon, we were 45 minutes delayed and still no news.

Finally, the plane landed and passengers who were delayed from the KUL-SIN flight (Air Asia does turnaround flights) burst through the doors. Could we board yet? Unfortunately no. They still had an elderly passenger on board who needed a wheelchair to disembark. One would think that a wheelchair will be readily available in a world-class airport such as Changi. Unfortunately it wasn’t and it took the crew another half hour to hunt down the wheelchair before people could finally board. By then, it was already almost 5.45pm and passengers were all naturally upset and pissed off especially at the lack of communication! If they had been informed earlier that the flight was delayed, they might have been able to exit from the boarding lounge instead of staring blankly into space.

Worse, as liquids are not allowed in check in luggage, the poor passengers did not have any drinking water until they got onboard where most of them did not have much choice but to purchase overpriced drinks and water. A marketing ploy perhaps by Air Asia?

Air Asia Delayed Twice Within Two Weeks

Unfortunately the very same thing happened to J when he caught the Air Asia flight back from Singapore last weekend. And my friend’s mother experienced the very same the week before! Both flights were delayed for over 2 hours and passengers who were due to arrive at 8pm only ended up arriving close to 11pm!

Everyone can fly? Only if you don’t need to arrive on time!

With the influx of budget airlines servicing the Asean region, Air Asia had better seriously pull up their socks if they still wish to keep their passenger loyalty. Otherwise, there might come a time when zero fares will not even help!