KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: AirAsia will compensate passengers whose flights are delayed for more than three hours.

The budget carrier announced Monday that it would give RM200 e-gift vouchers to passengers delayed from the scheduled time of flight departure.

Labelled as its "On Time Guarantee", the e-gift voucher can be used to purchase one's next AirAsia flight or any AirAsia products and services online and is valid for three months.

All flights beginning Monday have been accorded the service, which comes at no extra cost to passengers.

It is however only applicable to delays caused by AirAsia, and does not cover circumstances such as bad weather, air traffic control, airport closures and acts of God.

Passengers eligible for the compensation will receive the voucher within three working days of the delayed flight via e-mail. A call centre will be set up soon for those without e-mail accounts.

Describing it as the first initiative to a string of "5-star" services that will be revealed in weeks to come, the budget carrier's chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes touted the move as possibly a world first.

He said the three-hour period was just the start, adding that once an order of a dozen Airbus 320 materialise within this year there would be room for other improvements. -The Star, ANN