AirAsia, Southeast Asia’s largest low-cost airline, announced on Monday that it will increase ticket prices by up to 40% and reduce its routes to offset the impact of the Middle East conflict, while emphasizing that the demand for flights remains strong.
The Malaysia-based low-cost carrier revealed that approximately 10% of all its flights had been canceled to date. AirAsia, which serves over 150 destinations in 25 countries, can reallocate its operations on routes where they can recover high fuel surcharges, stated Amanda Woo, the group’s chief commercial officer.
Ticket prices have gone up by about “31 to 40%”, she clarified, while fuel surcharges have been raised by 20%. Planned routes, including flights to Bahrain, the company’s main hub in the Middle East, and a key part of its network expansion beyond Southeast Asia, are still in place with a launch scheduled for June.
AirAsia’s founder, Tony Fernandes, acknowledged that price hikes, common in the low-cost sector, were “inevitable” due to rising fuel costs and a reduction in capacity on routes where they cannot cover fuel costs.
Facing challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic, AirAsia has gradually recovered, posting a profit of 1.96 billion ringgits (421 million euros) last year. Concerning the impact of the conflict on profitability for the rest of the year 2026, AirAsia officials believe the outlook remains “manageable” but will depend on the duration of the crisis.
