For those who want a specific seat, they can either purchase a “hot seat” for RM25 one way or a “standard seat” for RM5.

They have the option of choosing a window or aisle seat or anywhere else.

The hot seats are those in the first five front rows and the two rows at the emergency exit. A hot seat comes automatically with express boarding facility.

The standard seat allows passengers to choose the other seats.

The Xpress boarding facility as a standalone service will be scrapped from Tuesday. Those who have already booked or paid through this facility will be given a hot seat. Those who do not like the seat assigned to them can change them.

“Passengers now have a choice on whether they want to sit by the aisle, window or anywhere else,” AirAsia group chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes said at the launch of the service yesterday.

“The days of running to the plane or pretending to be a rugby player while trying to grab a seat are over.”

He said passengers had always wanted seating options as practised by long-haul services on AirAsia X flights.

“The response has been good so far with 7,000 choice of seats booked in five days.

The service was opened for sale from Feb 5.

On the 500,000 free tickets promotion, Fernandes said the response was “fantastic” with a record 279,000 seats sold in one day despite the economic downturn.

“We will not be cutting down on our plans. We believe we have the product that people want which can bring in more tourists,” he said.

He added that the new LCCT departure terminal would be ready by March 15.

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