KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAS) Chief Executive Officer Peter Bellew has reiterated his call for airport passenger service charges to be the same at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and KLIA2, saying the current charges are totally anti-competitive.
He said the move was crucial for MAS to become profitable again as it needed a «competitive set of charges at our home base» that would protect workers’ jobs and enable new jobs to be created in the future.
«Charges for international passengers at KLIA are at RM33 (US$8.25) more per person than they are at KLIA2,» he said when addressing MAS employees here on Friday. His remarks were made available to Bernama.
«This is totally unfair and completely anti-competitive,» said Bellew, who took over as CEO and Managing Director of MAS last month.
The differential in the rates between KLIA and KLIA2 reportedly costs well over RM100 million annually for MAS.
Some 51 other carriers now operating out of the two terminals at Sepang are also looking forward to the same charges.
MAS is not the only airline or association urging the Malaysia Aviation Commission (MAVCOM) for uniformity when rates are revised, probably, by year-end.
The Geneva-based International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) — both trade bodies — have also written to MAVCOM and Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) to protest about the ridiculous difference…
