AirAsia X, a Malaysian long-haul budget carrier, was ordered to refund a customer and retroactively apply its updated refund policy by a local court Tuesday, more than a year after the discount carrier made changes to its former "no-refund" rule. 
   
In January, the plaintiff, only identified by his surname Nah, had lodged a lawsuit with Seoul Central District Court against AirAsia X, demanding a refund of the 4.5 million won (US$4,097.61) in flight tickets he had bought but later canceled two months before the departure date. 
   
Although at the time of his purchase, AirAsia had a general no-money-back rule, the court said the policy is "invalid," and ordered the firm to pay back Nah in accordance with its new policy, which it was forced to update by the South Korean antitrust watchdog last year.
   
"The previous policy, in which passengers are not given any refund whatsoever, was unfair for customers and thus should be considered invalid," the ruling said, ordering AirAsia X follow its new policy and return 90 percent of the fare paid to the plaintiff. 
   
In June last year, the Fair Trade Commission had urged AirAsia to revise its previous non-refundable fares policy, which refused to reimburse passengers even for overbooked flights or involuntary refunds. The budget carrier later made changes to its rules exclusively for customers in South Korea. 
   
Despite the revamped policy, however, ticket buyers here have complained that AirAsia's reimbursement rules are unsatisfactory in comparison to other low-cost airlines based in Seoul. 
   
In the case of involuntary refunds on account of the carrier, the policies of both Jin Air Co. and Jeju Air Co. stipulate that the passenger will be fully refunded, whereas AirAsia states the full refunds will be given only when it is unable to provide an alternative flight option within 48 hours of the passenger's initial time of departure. 
   
Some ticket buyers have also had difficulty in getting their refunds, having to wait months before they are actually reimbursed.

More than 36 complaints have been incurred this year, of which 19 were cases where refunds were delayed by over six months, according to local research center Consumer Research. 
   
"It's hard to understand that even after more than one year since it came up with a new refund policy, the company doesn't seem to have the proper procedures to deal with its updated rules," an official at the research center said. "Consumers should keep in mind that it may be difficult for them to get a refund for tickets bought from AirAsia." (Yonhap)