AirAsia Bans Galaxy Note from its Flights

18th Oct 2016

Malaysian carrier AirAsia has become the latest international carrier to prohibit passengers from carrying Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone with them on AirAsia’s flights.

In a statement, the airline said:

Please be informed that AirAsia will no longer allow Samsung Galaxy Note 7 mobile phones on any of our flights from midnight tonight (00:01 GMT+8, 17^th October, 2016) due to safety concerns. This follows the recent US Department of Transport’s ban on the device and reports of replacement units catching fire.

The statement continued:

Guests are not permitted to carry the Galaxy Note 7 – including recalled and replacement devices – on their person, in cabin bags, in check-in baggage or as cargo. Any guests found with the device will be denied boarding.The prohibition applies to all flights operated by AirAsia Group, comprising AirAsia Malaysia (carrier code AK), AirAsia Thailand (FD), AirAsia Indonesia (QZ), AirAsia Philippines (Z2), AirAsia India (I5), Malaysia AirAsia X (D7), Thai AirAsia X (XJ) and Indonesia AirAsia X (XT).

Previously, several other airlines, including Australia’s Qantas, Virgin Australia and Jetstar, Singapore Airlines, Air Berlin and others banned Samsung Galaxy Note from their planes.

AirAsia Adds More Kuala Lumpur-Taipei Flights

However, if some AirAsia customers feel disheartened about the airline prohibiting them from bringing their newest device with them on-board (albeit it is for their own safety), they can at least be happy that the Malaysian carrier has expanded one of its popular routes – Kuala Lumpur-Taipei.

The airline will now fly 17 times per week between these two destinations, instead of 14. The three new flights will be introduced officially in December and they will take off every Monday, Thursday and Sunday.

According to AirAsia Taiwan Head of Marketing Al Chen, Kuala Lumpur is the biggest city and capital of Malaysia and Taiwan is one of the major sources of tourists to Malaysia.

Every year, approximately 200,000 tourists from Taiwan visit Malaysia. This year alone, the number of visitors to Malaysia from Taiwan increased by 16.83 per cent when compared to the same period in 2015. At the same time, more than 300,000 Malaysians visited Taiwan so far in 2016.