KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAS) is calling for a new set of passenger service charge (PSC) rates at both Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2).
Chief executive officer (CEO) Peter Bellew told Business Times that Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) should be able to charge the new rates to enable further investment at KLIA.
He said the new domestic PSC could be a little higher than the current rate at KLIA, while the new international rate should be similar to the current KLIA charges.
Bellew also suggested a new Asean rate that could be lower than current KLIA rate, but higher than klia2 rate.
“I think it would make sense to have a new set of rates which is the same for both terminals (KLIA and klia2)… MAHB has to be able to charge a market rate to enable investment in KLIA which has not happened for years,” he said.
In a memo to MAS’s staff that was circulated last week, Bellew reiterated his call for PSC to be the same at KLIA and klia2 as the current charges were “totally unfair and anti-competitive”.
He said there needed to be a fair and competitive set of charges at the two terminals for MAS to grow and become profitable again.
The current PSC at KLIA is RM65 for international destinations and RM9 for domestic travel, while at klia2, the charges for international and domestic destinations are RM32 and RM6, respectively.
A new PSC is likely to be announced by year-end, said Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) chief operating officer Azmir Zain.
Mavcom, which is the aviation regulation body, is now reviewing the current rates.
Should there be any delay in the announcement of the new PSC before April next year, Bellew said in his memo MAS would be forced to operate new flights out of klia2 to North Asia and China.
The new flights would translate into RM33 less per passenger or RM5,412 per flight in terms of costs for the national carrier.
According to Bellew, this would translate into annual savings of RM1.97 million for each daily flight.
Currently, MAS and other 51 airlines are looking forward to the same charges at KLIA and klia2, except AirAsia Bhd which wants the government to lower the PSC rates.