MANILA, PHILIPPINES – AirAsia MOVE (MOVE) affirms its full cooperation with the Philippine government to uphold transparent and fair pricing and consumer protection. MOVE also clarifies that it does not manually set or manipulate airfares in light of the fare discrepancy issues.
As an Online Travel Agency (OTA), MOVE displays flight inventory and pricing data as provided by its authorized upstream suppliers, including third-party aggregators and Global Distribution Systems (GDS).
The discrepancies in fare displays for certain routes, including domestic flights operated by Philippine Airlines, were caused by temporary data synchronization issues with flight pricing partners. This technical discrepancy caused by the third-party provider is not isolated to MOVE as it also affected other booking platforms across the industry, including Agoda, Kiwi.com, and Traveloka.
As a matter of due diligence, upon identifying the issue, MOVE took immediate steps and brought up the matter with the third-party pricing provider for immediate resolution. MOVE also took steps to further enhance safeguards to prevent any future recurrence.
MOVE has been working closely with relevant authorities and is fully compliant with all regulatory requirements applicable to Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) operating in the Philippines.
MOVE welcomes the opportunity to proactively engage with relevant authorities to provide clarity on the issue and asks for due process to take its course for the benefit of all passengers booked via the platform.
MOVE continues to support the Philippines’ tourism agenda through digital innovation, strategic partnerships, and enhanced connectivity. Since our launch in the Philippines, we have seen strong and sustained growth in travel bookings, with 85% of this momentum driven by domestic destinations such as Manila, Cebu, and Boracay. As an ASEAN-focused brand, we have facilitated inbound travel to the Philippines from across the region, contributing to a 28% year-on-year increase in international flight bookings into the country.