SEPANG: AirAsia guests will have reason to celebrate on Tuesday as it proceeds with the implementation of the reduced passenger service charge (PSC) at klia2 and other international airports in Malaysia where it operates.
This follows last month’s announcement by the Malaysian Minister of Transport Anthony Loke of the Cabinet’s decision to revise downward the PSC for passengers travelling outside of Asean from RM73 to RM50 effective Oct 1.
“We fully respect the Cabinet’s decision and as per the minister’s announcement, we will proceed with charging the reduced PSC from 1 October 2019. As the airports belong to the Government, the Cabinet certainly has every power to implement changes to the PSC,” AirAsia Group President (Airlines) Bo Lingam said.
He said the fact that the Cabinet had chosen to reduce the applicable PSC to RM50 demonstrates that the PSC rates set by the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) were maximum rates rather than fixed rates, consistent with statements made by Mavcom.
“For this reason, we believe there is no need for further gazetting of the lower PSC rate for it to become effective on Oct 1.”
He said that as a special thanks to its guests and supporters, AirAsia will be having a 23-hour “Shared Prosperity” promotion on Oct 1, offering a 23 per cent discount on all seats to destinations beyond Asean including Tianjin, Melbourne, Seoul, Jaipur, Tokyo and Taipei, for immediate travel through to Feb 9, 2020.
The “Shared Prosperity” promo will be available on airasia.com and the AirAsia mobile app, and includes hotel bookings. There are also special discounts on merchandise and duty-free items on ourshop.com.
“We would like to thank the Government and all Malaysians for supporting our cause towards a fair PSC and making air travel affordable for everyone. This will hugely benefit not only air travellers but also the tourism industry and economy as a whole,” said Bo.
Air travellers will enjoy cheaper PSC for international flights at all airports in Malaysia, except Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).
The PSC rate for domestic and Asean flights at all airports remains at RM11 and RM35 respectively.
The government decided to review the PSC charges to reduce tax burden, in light of the new levy tax under the Departure Levy Act 2019 which came into place on Sept 2.
In July last year, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd had imposed a new PSC of RM73 on passengers using klia2 to destinations beyond Asean, which is the same rate applied at the full-service KLIA terminal and RM23 higher than the previous rate of RM50.