AirAsia cheated me, claims Indian national

Tickets were booked under his name but used by someone else.

PETALING JAYA: An Indian national today claimed that he was cheated by AirAsia, the country’s first no-frills carrier, after tickets which were booked and paid for under his name were used by someone else.

S Palaniapan, 49, said he booked two AirAsia tickets on May 16, 2012 to travel to India. One ticket was to depart from the Kuala Lumpur low-cost carrier terminal (LCCT) to Chennai, India, on Feb 12 and the other ticket was to depart from the LCCT to Trichi, India, on March 14.

Both tickets were issued by Dawood Travels and Tours located at Lebuh Ampang, Kuala Lumpur.

Palaniapan said he paid RM650 for both tickets.

“After booking the two tickets, I made a second confirmation with regard to my flights with the agent.

“But I was told by one of the staff at Dawood Travels and Tours that the ticket I had booked had been used by someone else using my name through the low-cost airline to fly out on an earlier date,” Palaniapan alleged.

He said he then went to AirAsia to get the ticket details and the staff there also confirmed that the tickets booked under his name had already been used by someone else.

“I felt cheated. How can this happen? Someone has used my name and used the tickets to fly out on an earlier date. How did AirAsia check in a passenger who is not the ticket holder? Obviously my name is printed on the ticket. Did they double-check the name on the ticket against the passport?”

“All these questions must be answered. And what about the money I used to buy the tickets?” he asked.

Palaniapan has since lodged a report at the Kajang police station.

When contacted, a spokesman from the police station said the police were investigating the matter.

Attempts to obtain comments from AirAsia on the matter have been unsuccessful so far.