SEPANG, April 6 — Budget carrier AirAsia X said today it is raising fares by up to 40 per cent and imposing a 20 per cent fuel surcharge, even as the airline trims costs and cuts a limited number of flights to stay competitive amid ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

AirAsia X chief commercial officer Amanda Woo said fare increases were “unavoidable”, but stressed that keeping prices affordable remains a key priority during this period.

“We are being very mindful as well when we raise fares.

“Being the airline with the largest capacity within the Asean market, especially domestically, we are able to spread this very carefully across routes that we think can actually recover the current high fuel surcharge,” she told a media briefing at AirAsia’s RedQ headquarters here.

Woo said one of the ancillary measures to soften the impact of higher base fares was a reduction in the airline’s pre-booked baggage fees.

She added that both domestic and international demand remained strong, stressing that the airline remains committed to supporting the ongoing Visit Malaysia 2026 campaign.

“We are already seeing double-digit growth as of last Friday compared to four weeks ago.

“There are combined marketing efforts to bring in tourists and passengers into Malaysia, and that has not been interrupted so far,” she said.

Meanwhile, AirAsia X group chief executive Bo Lingam said the airline has cut about 10 per cent of flights following the onset of the Middle East conflict.

However, he said the affected routes were non-profitable exploratory routes and the cuts were temporary.

On cost-cutting measures, Bo said the airline is optimising its fleet without resorting to staff reductions.

“Those aircraft that we have cut capacity from, we put them in for their maintenance checks.

“If their checks are due in September, do it now. So if the war ends in a month or during the peak period, I do not need to send the aircraft for checks,” he said.

Bo also confirmed that there is currently no need for the airline to raise funds to manage its cash flow.

Earlier, AirAsia co-founder and adviser Tan Sri Tony Fernandes assured that the aviation group will persevere through the ongoing crisis as it has navigated similar challenges in the past.

“We have been through so many; it’s nothing new to us. Ukraine was just a few years ago, oil then went up to US$120 per barrel, plus Covid-19 at the same time, and we came through that,” he said.