Marketing Ethics in Air Asia

As there are more airline choices, people, nowadays, choose their suitable flights not just considering the airline safety, but also the price of the air ticket. Low cost carriers (LCCs) may become the best choice of many visitors going aboard. Many people think that LCCs charge you less. In reality, it is not necessary as many budgeted airlines charge visitors extra fees, especially baggage fee, apart from the ticket. Let’s discuss Air Asia as an example.

Air Asia is one of the LCCs having a port in Hong Kong (HK). Air Asia operates scheduled domestic and international flights to over 400 destinations spanning 25 countries. For example, it provides flight only costing about HKD1300 to travel Bangkok from Hong Kong. The baggage fee is varied according to the baggage weight, traveling distance and whether pre-booked or not. For instance, a baggage of 30kg which travels from HK to Bangkok and is pre-booked costs HKD190. It is a cost many people are unaware of.

The main reason that Air Asia does not include the baggage fee in the ticket cost is because it wants to lower the price of ticket as cheap as possible in order to attract travelers to choose its airline. A 2002 survey conducted by the research company NFO Infratest in Europe showed that 59% of its respondents were flying LCCs. (Wong, 2005). Thus, strategy of providing low price air fare is a success to capture customer value. The second reason is that the airline wants to give passengers freedom to choose whether to pay the fee as its aim is to keep the cost lower and only charge for what passengers want. The third reason is that the airline can better control the weight of all the baggage so as the plane, thus it can manage the fuel consumption easier.

Although the practice of charging baggage fee while providing cheap air ticket seems reasonable and legal, but whether it is ethical is questionable.

Under the AMA Statement of Ethics, Air Asia should respect the value of transparency and fairness.

In transparency, it implies to create a spirit of openness in marketing operations. Companies should strive to communicate clearly with all constituencies. They should also explain the details and the relevant information of products and services that will affect the customers’ perception to buy. Although Air Asia does not try to cover the baggage fee information or providing misleading information, the inexperienced travelers and those who are not internet savvy can be at a disadvantage