Low-cost airline Air Asia said it will be rolling out several contactless travel services such as contactless kiosks, contactless payment options, the Passenger Reconciliation System (PRS) as well as enhanced features on its mobile app for travellers amid the coronavirus crisis.
Air Asia said contactless kiosks are now available at all airports across Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and Japan. Travellers can use these kiosks to print their boarding pass and baggage tag after checking-in online through the airline’s website or the Air Asia mobile app.
The airline has also set up contactless payment options including Wave payments for AliPay and WeChat Pay at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2) in Malaysia. The carrier said it plans to introduce these options to other airports “gradually”. It also said options such as BigPay and Touch N Go will also be “available soon”.
Another contactless travel procedure will be the Passenger Reconciliation System (PRS) which will be available at klia2, followed soon by other airports in Malaysia where Air Asia operates. The PRS entails no boarding pass exchange between guests and aviation security as guests only need to scan them instead. Air Asia said it has also digitised the boarding process by scanning all boarding passes at the boarding gate instead of collecting stubs of physical ones.
The Malaysian carrier said its mobile app will also see an enhancement “later this month” as guests will be able to scan their passports using the app. The airline said there are also plans to progressively add other features such as travel visa scanning capabilities in the near future.
Air Asia Group chief operations officer Javed Malik said: “In addition to the existing strict safety measures on-ground, such as social distancing markers and Allstars wearing personal protective equipment, we are pleased to introduce our updated contactless procedures to deliver a more secure, safe, efficient, and contactless experience for our guests across the region. The safety of our guests and Allstars is our utmost priority and these additional enhancements demonstrate our continued commitment to keeping flying safe in the new normal environment for air travel.”
