Mavcom urges AAX (5238): AIRASIA X BHD to fully reimburse travel passengers for tickets purchased

Mavcom urges AAX (5238): AIRASIA X BHD to fully reimburse travel passengers for tickets purchased

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) will not hesitate to exercise its powers under the Malaysian Aviation Commission Act 2015 should AirAsia X Bhd not fully reimburse air travel consumers for tickets purchased, and pay only 0.5% of the value as previously announced.

Earlier on Friday, AirAsia X had received approval from its creditors to proceed with a debt restructuring exercise in which only 0.5% of the RM33.65bil debts owed would be paid.

It secured full approval for the debt restructuring from its Class A and C scheme creditors and 97.6% support from Class B following three separate court convened meetings with the respective groups.

AirAsia X has categorised travel passengers as unsecured creditors, which fall under Class B.

In a Friday statement, the commission said air travel consumers should not be classified as creditors as they did not, inter alia, sell any products, provide services or make loans to AirAsia X but instead paid monies for the purchase of tickets in advance of their flights.

"AAX has repeatedly in its correspondence with Mavcom and in their statements made to the public, given the assurance that AAX is committed to reimburse air travel consumers who were not able to fly due to flight cancellations.

"Mavcom is committed to discharging its duties under Act 771 and the Malaysian Aviation Consumer Protection Code in ensuring that air travel consumer rights are safeguarded," it said.

Mavcom said it had issued a letter dated Nov 11 to AirAsia X in response to the debt restructuring exercise, in line with its mandate to regulate matters relating to civil aviation in Malaysia and protecting air travel consumer rights.

Under its debt restructuring plan, AirAsia X plans to reconstitute RM63.5bil of its debt into an acknowledgment of indebtedness for a principal amount of up to RM200mil by reducing its share capital by 99.9% as well as undertaking a proposed share consolidation of every 10 existing shares in the company into one share.

Shares in AirAsia X were the second most actively traded on Friday, closing 1.5 sen or 25% higher at 7.5 sen apiece on the back of 118.26 million shares exchanging hands.

https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2021/11/12/mavcom-urges-airasia-x-to-fully-reimburse-travel-passengers-for-tickets-purchased