Be friendly to all, Tiong tells service staff as first flight-delay insurance scheme launched

KUALA LUMPUR: Airlines and hotels are told to be more friendly to everyone as budget airline AirAsia introduced the industry's first flight-delay insurance to compensate travellers.

At the launch of AirAsia's first free-seats of the year campaign with the tagline "Size Matters", Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing said that staff of airlines and hotels are responsible for the first image of the nation that tourists see.

He said Malaysia will lose potential tourists to other countries if the service industry such as airlines and hotels are not friendly.

Tiong said this in his speech when launching AirAsia's announcement of the first free-seats of the year.

"If Indonesia can do it, why not Malaysia? We need a friendlier service industry. Smile at everyone, even the people you do not want to smile to.

"If hotels are not friendly, then the industry is jeopardised. Before reaching Malaysia, the airlines are the face of Malaysia even before the tourists land," said Tiong.

Speaking to the media, Tiong said that the government hopes to bring in 20 million tourists in 2023 as the industry was a major contributor to the gross domestic product (GDP).

"The tourism sector is the most important sector in any country as tourists would boost the country's economy.

"All Asean countries need to boost tourism but no country can do it alone.

"We want to bring chartered airlines between China and Malaysia," said Tiong, who asked that AirAsia also look into chartered flights from Sabah and Sarawak.

Capital A CEO Tony Fernandes also announced that AirAsia will be giving away five million domestic and international seats starting Feb 10 to Feb 19 for the travel period between March 1 and Dec 10 this year.

Fernandes also said that AirAsia came up with the flight-delay insurance scheme to compensate fliers who expect airlines to fly on time.

Under the flight-delay insurance, which was underwritten by Tune Protect, fliers who have been delayed by two hours or more are entitled to RM200 one-off pay.

During the five million-seat giveaway, the flight-delay insurance was free to those who managed to get a seat.

"The number one reason we are doing this is to vouch for protection. Airlines should make insurance trustable and easy to get the compensation from.

"This is also an opportunity for us to educate travellers to buy insurance, as the Covid-19 pandemic has taught us a valuable lesson on the importance of having insurance," said Fernandes.