CAB fines AirAsia Move P6M for misleading fares

The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) imposed a P6 million fine on flight booking site AirAsia Move for displaying misleading and excessive fares, a penalty supported by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to prevent the abuse of Filipino passengers.

The P6 million penalty covers three fare violations, each carrying a P2 million fine, and was due within 15 days.

Consumer complaints, including one from Leyte Rep. Richard Gomez and Ormoc Mayor Lucy Torres-Gomez who paid P77,704 for two one-way PAL tickets to Manila instead of P49,507 if booked directly, initiated the case.

AirAsia Move attributed the fare irregularities to technical glitches from third-party suppliers and stated that no bookings were finalized at the flagged prices.

The DOTr ordered the shutdown of the AirAsia Move site and directed the filing of economic sabotage charges.

AirAsia Move CEO Nadia Omer stated that online travel agencies rely on third-party aggregators and cannot manually alter prices passed on from these suppliers.

The DOTr and AirAsia Move are now working on ticket pricing guidelines.