PETALING JAYA: Malindo Airways has become the second airline to offer a waiver for passengers who may want to make changes to their bookings if it falls on the date of the next general election (GE14).
In a statement released today, the Malaysian-based airline said it would allow for both the change fee and fare difference to be waived if the travel date is amended and the destination remains the same.
“In anticipation of the 14th general election, Malindo Airways came up with the waivers to ensure that our valued guests’ travel will not be affected.
“This waiver is applicable for Malaysian citizens only,” the airline said.
It added that passengers wanting to change their destination would be required to pay the fare difference to the new destination but still get a waiver on the change fee.
Yesterday, Cathay Pacific announced that it was waiving ticket rebooking and re-routing charges for travellers whose flights fall on the GE14 date.
In a travel advisory posted on its website, the airline said the waiver is applicable for all flight tickets issued in Malaysia for Cathay Pacific and its sister airline, Cathay Dragon.
“In anticipation of the announcement of Malaysia’s 14th general election, rebooking/re-routing charges will be waived irrespective of fare type if the travel date falls on the election date,” the advisory said.
The airline said the waiver was only applicable for Malaysian citizens, and only one change would be permitted for all tickets, including those with restrictions on date change.
The waiver applies if the election date falls within the passenger’s inbound or outbound travel dates.
Passengers are required to make the change within seven days from the announcement of GE14.
The Federal Constitution states that a general election needs to be called when Parliament is dissolved or it reaches a maximum term of five years. The current Parliament kicked off its term on June 24, 2013, therefore Parliament will automatically be dissolved as of June 24, 2018.
As a general election needs to be called no later than two months after Parliament is dissolved, therefore, the last possible date for GE14 is Aug 24, 2018.
Speculation is rife, however that the general election will be held in early May, before the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan begins.