After shutting down its operations last month, AirAsia Japan (AAJ) earlier today has filed for bankruptcy with the Tokyo District Court who immediately provided the company with provisional administration order. The bankruptcy filing was revealed by AirAsia Berhad through an announcement for Bursa Malaysia.
According to the FAQ that AirAsia posted on its website, the bankruptcy filing only affects AAJ flights which have the DJ moniker on its flight number. The FAQ noted that AirAsia flights to Japan that originated from Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines will continue to take place in the future once travel restrictions are lifted by respective authorities.
Given the financial situation that AAJ is facing at the moment, the airline is now no longer able to settle any outstanding refunds and all purchased tickets will be converted to credit account by the end of this month. This credit account will be valid for two years and can be used to obtain flights as well as additional amenities for any AirAsia flights.
That being said, customers can still apply for refunds if they insist although they have to wait for a while before they can receive their money since the refund process is expected to start only in April 2021. All in all, it is yet another blow to AirAsia Group who has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic which has resulted in massive travel restrictions across the globe.
Aside from AAJ, the group’s long-haul division, AirAsia X is currently in the midst of restructuring. Despite all these difficulties which have also forced the group to downsize its workforce, AirAsia through a statement today said that it is confident things will improve in months to come especially now that the company has begun to see positive growth from its all-in-one super app.
(Images: ken H / 22n via Flickr, used under Creative Commons license.)
