The airline said each of those affected had been given a travel voucher with a five-year tenure to the full value of the outstanding bookings.
All holders of the RM499 unlimited pass have also received the compensation.
In a statement issued today, the medium to long-haul affiliate of AirAsia Aviation Group said the travel voucher can be used to book any AAX flight immediately and for future travel to destinations currently on sale.
Many more routes will be added to AAX’s network in the future, including Japan, Australia, Hawaii, New Zealand, London, Dubai and Istanbul in 2022.
“Guests who have yet to receive the travel voucher are required to register for AirAsia rewards membership with the same email they used to book their flights as the travel voucher will be linked to the account,” it said.
AAX pledged to continue processing all remaining compensation entitlements, including bookings made through travel agents, in the coming weeks.
“We have given out more than US$92 million (RM409.34 million) worth of travel vouchers for over a quarter of a million bookings. That is about 80% of the total bookings, and we are reaching out to the final groups of guests until everyone gets back what they are owed,” said Tony Fernandes, AAX acting group CEO.
He explained that AAX wasn’t able to pay cash refunds due to the legal process of the restructuring.
The CEO of AAX, Benyamin Ismail, said the past two years had been extremely challenging for the travel industry worldwide. Before the pandemic AAX carried over 40 million guests. “We now hope for the return of the travel crowd,” he said.
“The past two years have enabled us to review, reset and restart operations with a more robust platform for a sustainable and viable future. AAX now has perhaps the lowest cost base in the industry to remain more competitive than ever, which we can pass onto consumers in the form of the best value fares once again,” he said.
Benyamin also disclosed that AAX expects a strong pent up demand for medium to long-haul travel, now that travel curbs have been lifted after two years.