The Philippines Department of Transportation has ordered AirAsia's digital platform – AirAsia MOVE (MOVE) – to stop selling flight bookings on local airlines, with the transport regulator seeking to file an economic sabotage case against the online travel agent platform.
During a press event held in Manila on Monday (June 2), Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon said the transport agency has asked the Anti-Cybercrime Group of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to take down flight booking options on local airlines on MOVE's website. The move is part of a cease-and-desist order issued by the Philippine Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) following complaints of fare hikes attributed to the closure of a key bridge for trucks in the Southeastern Philippine city of Tacloban City.
Dizon cited flight bookings made on MOVE's website for two passengers, one-way with Philippine Airlines from Manila to Tacloban for around PHP 77,704 (~USD $1,397) – or around PHP 38,852 per person - higher compared when booking directly with Philippine Airlines (PHP 49,507 or ~USD $889).
AirAsia Move is operated by Malaysia-based Capital A Berhad's subsidiary Move Travel Sdn. Berhad. In addition to selling flight bookings on AirAsia Group airlines including Philippine-based AirAsia Philippines, the online platform sells bookings on other airlines. While affiliated with the AirAsia Group carriers, it operates as a separate company.
In addition to an investigation on MOVE, the Philippine transport regulator has also instructed the CAB to investigate other online booking platforms charging excessive fares not limited to Tacloban.
MOVE's Response
Following the order to cease flight bookings on Philippine-based carriers, MOVE pledged its support and cooperation with the Philippine government in the investigation. The company also stated that it does not manually set or manipulate fares.
In a statement, Nadia Omer, CEO of MOVE said: “As an Online Travel Agency (OTA), MOVE displays flight inventory and pricing data as provided by its authorized upstream suppliers, including third-party aggregators and Global Distribution Systems (GDS).”
MOVE stated the discrepancies in fare displayed for certain routes – including Philippine domestic flights operated by Philippine Airlines – were caused by a temporary data synchronization issue with a flight pricing partner. MOVE further added the situation affected other booking platforms such as Agoda, kiwi.com, and Traveloka.
Since the issue was discovered, MOVE brought up the matter with the third-party pricing provider and has taken steps to further enhance safeguards to prevent a similar, future occurrence.
Omer added: “MOVE has been working closely with relevant authorities and is fully compliant with all regulatory requirements applicable to Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) operating in the Philippines.”
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