Air Asia X delays flights from Gold Coast to Kuala Lumpur for more than a month

Hundreds of Gold Coast travellers are frantically changing their plans after the resumption of a major flight route was delayed. Find out why.

Hundreds of Gold Coast travellers are frantically changing their plans after the resumption of a major flight route was delayed.

Air Asia X was set to start flying between the Gold Coast and Kuala Lumpur on February 16 for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic.

On Thursday passengers started getting emails notifying them their flight had been cancelled.

Air Asia X CEO Beyamin Ismail confirmed the return of the route had been delayed until April 1.

“Unfortunately we have had to delay our resumption of services to/from Gold Coast due to an unexpected delay in aircraft availability from our maintenance provider,” he said.

“New services commence from 1 April from Gold Coast and any passengers affected have been notified immediately this week and offered free of charge transfer to a new date of their choice through to the end of 2023 among other options.”

An email sent to passengers and seen by the Bulletin states the cancellation had been due to “operational reasons”.

The return of the flight was only announced early last month.

Steve Davies was among those who were caught up in the delays.

He and his partner had originally booked flights on the budget airline for a trip to India in 2020.

Mr Davies said they had received travel vouchers for those flights, which they used to re-book their trip for next month.

However, they were at first told they would need to re-pay the taxes on the flight.

“It’s really unfair,” he said.

“I feel like I’ve been gouged.

“I don’t trust Air Asia anymore.”

Mr Davies said he had been happy with the level of service he previously received when he flew with the airline.

Mr Davies said he spent most of Friday morning trying to change his flights.

He said he is now waiting to hear if he can change the route to a flight out of Sydney.

When asked about the taxes an Air Asia spokeswoman said: “AirAsia has contacted all affected guests to offer a range of options to minimise the inconvenience including free of charge transfer to another flight of their choice before 31 December 2023, or a full credit to the full amount of the booking and both include taxes and charges.

“The travel credit option is immediate and available for use up to 730 days for maximum flexibility.”

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