Air Asia

[uptheos]

I've just been looking at the Air Asia main page http://www.airasia.com/my/en/latestnews/myentryreq.html

I notice that it says

4. Visa on arrival (VOA) will no longer be issued in Malaysia

AirAsia & AirAsia X would like to inform our guests that the Malaysian Immigration Department will no longer be issuing Visa on Arrival (VOA), effective 15th August 2010.

If you were able to obtain a VOA, you will now need a valid visa before you fly with us. Please comply with this new ruling to avoid being denied access to board.

The only countries eligible for 120 hour transit visa are:

Countries eligible for Transit Without VisaIndian SubcontinentOther CountriesSri LankaIndiaPakistanBangladesh

(Diplomatic & Official Passports only)BhutanChinaMyanmarNepalTaiwanVietnamEligibityEligibility

If I'm reading this correctly, anyone travelling from KL - London (or anywhere else) and stays a night in the Tune box KL to connect, now has to get a visa before flying from CNX - KL and before returning from London (or anywhere else) - KL.

Is that how others read it?

Anyone been to KL lately direct from CNX?

[naboo]

Looks to me like a disaster for Air Asia. Last time I went, I was transiting through the LCCT on CMX - KUL - DPS and you had to enter through immigration, no transit facilities available.

Can't see people being willing to go to the hassle of getting a visa in order to save a few quid flying Air Asia X to the UK. 

[uptheos]

Looks to me like a disaster for Air Asia. Last time I went, I was transiting through the LCCT on CMX - KUL - DPS and you had to enter through immigration, no transit facilities available.

Can't see people being willing to go to the hassle of getting a visa in order to save a few quid flying Air Asia X to the UK.

I agree and it affects all those 'specials' that originate in KL too; i.e. Perth, Melbourne, Gold Coast.....anywhere!

[tfc]

I flew to KL from Thailand in September on an Australian passport. Can enter the country for up to 3 months without a visa. I believe it's the same for a lot of other countries. The VOA cancellation is only really a problem for countries that needed a visa in the first place.

[uptheos]

I flew to KL from Thailand in September on an Australian passport. Can enter the country for up to 3 months without a visa. I believe it's the same for a lot of other countries. The VOA cancellation is only really a problem for countries that needed a visa in the first place.

Well, since you've done it, the question has been answered thank you.

Just a quickie. If they needed a visa in the first place, how could they get a VOA anyway?

[mamborobert]

Its not a drama for the vast majority of expats......

Everybody needs a visa for Malaysia...its just that sometimes you do not even know you have one because your travel agent, or the flight check in staff lodge and validate your visa before you even get on the plane.

There are 40 or so low risk countries that you can travel to on an exchange where you do not need a label for a toursit stay of up to three months. These are places like Australia, UK, France, Malaysia, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Italy, Norway etc). They are called ETA's mainly (standing for electronic travel authority).

If you are a national of one of these countries you can go to Malaysia (or transit) no problems becuase you have a visa even though you may not know you have it.

That's why the nationals of these countries travel between them without a physical visa in the passport, because they have an electronic visa linked to the chip in the passport, or the machine readable zone on the biopage (where immigration or customs scan the bottom of the bio page).

[mamborobert]

I flew to KL from Thailand in September on an Australian passport. Can enter the country for up to 3 months without a visa. I believe it's the same for a lot of other countries. The VOA cancellation is only really a problem for countries that needed a visa in the first place.

Well, since you've done it, the question has been answered thank you.

Just a quickie. If they needed a visa in the first place, how could they get a VOA anyway?

Lots of countries that have VOA programs have been winding them up (Philippines is another example). Basically a lot of the less developed countries have had more than enough time to get their passports up to scratch (integrity and security feature wise). While they were supposed to do this some countries (like Malaysia) used to let certain nationals (from medium to high risk countries but with low quality passports) fly to them without a visa and get a visa on arrival (after they make declarations about intent, health, criminal convicitons and the like). You could still be refused a VOA and sent back from the airport to your departure point again if the VOA was refused.

Edited October 22, 2010 by mamborobert

[uptheos]

I flew to KL from Thailand in September on an Australian passport. Can enter the country for up to 3 months without a visa. I believe it's the same for a lot of other countries. The VOA cancellation is only really a problem for countries that needed a visa in the first place.

Well, since you've done it, the question has been answered thank you.

Just a quickie. If they needed a visa in the first place, how could they get a VOA anyway?

Lots of countries that have VOA programs have been winding them up (Philippines is another example). Basically a lot of the less developed countries have had more than enough time to get their passports up to scratch (integrity and security feature wise). While they were supposed to do this some countries (like Malaysia) used to let certain nationals (from medium to high risk countries but with low quality passports) fly to them without a visa and get a visa on arrival (after they make declarations about intent, health, criminal convicitons and the like). You could still be refused a VOA and sent back from the airport to your departure point again if the VOA was refused.

Thanks again for your response

[CheGuava]

Some people seem to be confusing a visa on arrival with being visa exempted.

This fools loads of visitors to Thailand as well.

Malaysia has:

* Visa exemption

* Three month visa-free stay (Most Western countries that are not in the Commonwealth

* Onemonth visa free stay (Applies to Thai citizens and other ASEAN citizens)

It's all out there if you just Google. Like http://impressions.com.my/kl/visa.htm

[mamborobert]

Some people seem to be confusing a visa on arrival with being visa exempted.

This fools loads of visitors to Thailand as well.

Malaysia has:

* Visa exemption

* Three month visa-free stay (Most Western countries that are not in the Commonwealth

* Onemonth visa free stay (Applies to Thai citizens and other ASEAN citizens)

It's all out there if you just Google. Like http://impressions.com.my/kl/visa.htm

Some countries are visa lable free ...not visa free altogether....and some of the group are visa free altogether

Malaysia still has requirments for even the visa label free (visa free) nationals...must have return or onwards ticket, must have six months left on passport etc....so you can still get turned around on your arrival even if you are from a "low risk" country if you act up for example (which is never a smart thing to do in an international airport).

Malaysia still has some oddities...people from Hong Kong and Taiwan must geta visa first from an embassy (must not upset the Chinese government).....and if you are from Israel you need to get prior approval from the Malaysian government in Malaysia (not just from an embassy).

If you are not from a country that you are certain has reciprocal rights (for the automatic three months) then you really should check with the embassy or your travel agents (same for anywhere you are going really)...Indonesia for example runs hot and cold on the six months validity left on your passport one month your ok one month your not. Sounds like Thailand