When Airline Turns a Blind Eye

When you do not take a flight for some reason or the other, or have to cancel one prior to the departure date, you can ask for a refund of the airport taxes. But how many people actually want to go through the process of getting a refund? 

Often, people don’t bother to claim, and globally, these monies run into billions of dollars.

In Britain, a report said that airlines are estimated to have pocketed up to £300mil in airport air passenger duties over the past six years from people who didn’t make their flights and didn’t claim their refunds – and it’s a sum that’s rising.

Other local airlines also have collected such amounts, but they just do not disclose how much.Over a month ago, one airline group during a question-and-answer session with analysts said that it had pocketed over RM90mil from no-show passengers after six months of no claims.

Locally, the no-show claim could be worth anything from RM200mil to RM300mil, and this money will just grow if passengers do not claim. With the number of people travelling going up every year, the number of no-show passengers will also grow as will the unclaimed monies.

As an air traveller, you have a right to claim the taxes. That is your money and more often than not, the tickets that you buy are non-refundable. However, the taxes are, so don’t 

believe the airlines or travel agents if they say the taxes are non-refundable.

Airport taxes are collected by the airlines for the airports, and this money, in turn, goes to the Government in whatever form the arrangement may be in the different countries.

Most airlines will allow you to make a claim within six months of the cancellation or no-show of the departure date, but you will have to find out the details from the respective websites or by calling the call centres.

If you don’t claim, you can’t fault the airline for keeping the money.

The passenger service tax here has been increased from Jan 1 this year. For international routes, it has gone up to RM73 from RM65 for the KL International Airport (KLIA) and is RM50 for KLIA2. The refunds include the portion of taxes for the country you are visiting. 

For example, if you are going to Japan, then you pay the taxes to the local airport and also the Japanese airport, so the amount may not be just RM73, it will definitely be more.

The question is, should the airline keep that money or could it be put to other use if the traveller does not claim that portion?

There are suggestions that the monies be pooled into a fund with an independent body or even the industry regulator managing it.

Other than ensuring the money is spent on improving services for travellers, it could be also used to help airlines when fuel prices eventually rise. By so doing, these airlines should not then impose fuel surcharges to help them foot their fuel costs.

Jet fuel prices are at US$63.5 per barrel and when they go beyond US$80, airlines will start looking at ways to impose fuel surcharges, burdening travellers and hampering the travel trade industry in the process.

However, by using these unclaimed monies, airlines will get their feed and travellers will not be charged more, creating a win-win situation for both parties. Nonetheless, at the end of the day, travellers should make that claim for a refund as it is their money.