AirAsia To Charge Mandatory Carbon Fees Starting January 2025
The carbon levy is not collected by the government.
By Sadho Ram — 27 Sep 2024, 12:07 PM
AirAsia Bhd, the low-cost airline subsidiary of Capital A Bhd, will implement mandatory carbon fees on all flights across its network starting January 2025, according to its CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes
The Malaysian multinational airline is currently seeking approval from authorities in all its operating markets, including Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Cambodia, reported The Edge.
"We will do it in January next year because I don't want to just do it in Malaysia.
"We are trying to get all the approvals from the ASEAN governments [to impose the carbon fees]," Fernandes said at a press conference on Thursday, 26 September.
The carbon fee, added to ticket prices, aims to support governmental efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the aviation sector
However, while Malaysia Airlines has made its carbon levy optional, AirAsia plans to make it mandatory.
"We have an option [for passengers to voluntarily pay the carbon fees], but we are not going to make it optional. If you put it optional, no one is going to do it," Fernandes explained.
Earlier this year, the Malaysian Aviation Commission (MAVCOM) stated that airlines operating in and out of the country will have the discretion to decide on implementing a carbon fee for air travel
"MAVCOM does not provide any regulations on how to do it, because this is a requirement by the country. So, it is up to the airlines on how much and when they will impose the carbon levy," MAVCOM's director of consumer and public affairs Pushpalatha Subramaniam reiterated the policy this month.
According to Transport Minister Anthony Loke, the carbon levy is not collected by the government but by airlines to offset carbon emissions.
"Our policy is different from Singapore's. We make it optional. It depends on airlines, whether to impose [the carbon levy]," he was quoted as saying by The Edge.
Meanwhile, Fernandes emphasised the importance of educating the public on the necessity of this fee, which is intended to fund projects aimed at reducing carbon emissions across ASEAN.
"The biggest thing we can do is educate the public. All of us need to do something. So, we want to educate the public [about the carbon fees] and we want to make sure that whatever money we raise is used for investments that will reduce carbon in ASEAN," he added.
