AIRASIA MOVE developing price cap system for tickets due to CAB regulations

AIRASIA MOVE, an online travel agency (OTA) under the AirAsia group, is developing a price cap system for tickets sold on its platform in response to Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) regulations.

Nadia Omer, CEO of AIRASIA MOVE, announced during a media briefing that the implementation will take two to three months due to technological challenges and is working closely with industry regulators to craft pricing guidelines.

The move follows a meeting between AIRASIA MOVE and the CAB after the Department of Transportation (DoTr) threatened economic sabotage charges against the OTA for allegedly setting unreasonably high ticket prices, which were resolved through temporary data synchronization issues.

Rep. Richard Frank I. Gomez filed complaints about unusually high fares on AirAsia MOVE, with tickets costing around P77,704 through the platform compared to P49,507 when booked directly with Philippine Airlines.

Ms. Omer explained that OTAs are often unaware of government-imposed fare ceilings since this information is usually communicated directly to airlines and not shared with travel agencies.

AIRASIA MOVE has assured full cooperation with the CAB and DoTr to address the pricing concerns, emphasizing the importance of educating stakeholders about how the OTA supply chain operates.