Indian Travelers Avoid Malaysia Airlines

Monday, 21st July 2014 at 12:28pm

Indian travelers would take no chances when it comes to flying, following the recent deadly air incidents involving Malaysia Airlines that caused multiple deaths.

According to travel agents in India, the two successive incidents involving Malaysia Airlines flights on March 8 and, most recently, on July 17, proved to be too much to bear for travelers who want to travel by air.

In fact, they received several requests for flight cancellation with the airline and get them another flight by other airlines.

There used to be more Indian travelers who favored Malaysian Airlines over other carriers when flying to Southeast Asia, North America, and Australia. Indians who wish to fly out of India usually favor Southeast Asian carriers from Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand to get to Australia. Among the Southeast Asian carriers, Malaysia Airlines attracted the bulk of Indian flyers for their Australian travel.

It's now a completely different scenario where the airline is on the opposite end. Travelers who are scheduled to fly with the airline have canceled their booking, and fresh bookings now exclude Malaysia Airlines as their option.

The first wave of Malaysia Airlines' scare in India occurred after the mysterious disappearance of MH370, which has never been found to this day.

To win back the trust of Indian customers, the airline launched a special 10-day plan exclusively for its travel agents in the country by offering up to 40% off on tickets. For instance, the Delhi-Kuala Lumpur return flights would only cost Rs18,000. However, the ticket is not refundable. The promo commenced on July 8 until July 18 for travel valid 'til November 30 this year.

Following the July 17 deadly crash, the airline has recently announced that customers who wish to cancel their flights or bookings will get a refund, including those who purchased non-refundable tickets.

The airline sources said they are giving their customers free options either to cancel or rebook their flights without fee following the most recent tragedy. The waived cancellation fee is only applicable between July 18 and July 24 whose travel dates fall between July 18 and December 31, 2014.

By: Pete Lee.