Low cost air carrier AirAsia has vowed to soldier on in its fight against airport tax hike ignoring alleged harrassment by Malaysia Airport Holdings Berhad (MAHB) on its its staff over the campaign.
An AirAsia officer familiar with the campaign who declined to be named , said regardless of MAHB harassment of AirAsia staff, the campaign will continue.
"Of course it will continue, have you seen AirAsia not stand up for something that it believes in?" she said when contacted.
She declined to divulge details of what triggered the campaign but stressed that it was AirAsia's collective decision.
However, she noted that MAHB has been less hard in clamping down on the campaign compared to yesterday.
"As of today, they are not as aggressive as yesterday, they've only been taking down our posters and stickers."
AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandez had on Nov 30 through micro-blogging site Twitter announced the campaign against MAHB's decision to hike taxes at 27 airports under its management.
"To all Malaysians, AirAsia has made flying affordable for all. Before it was just for the rich.
"We won't allow Malaysian airports to keep wasting money and increase charges for you. We will fight. Our campaign starts tomorrow," he wrote.
The enigmatic CEO has pasted campaign posters all over his car, which is parked outside the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) (photo, above).
Bully boy tactics on AirAsia
However, immediately after the campaign launch, Fernandes had complained that airport officers had attempted to intimidate his staff.
"Malaysian airport staff tearing down our posters (photo, right) and taking away airport passes of our staff. And using intimidation. Can someone tell them this is Malaysia and not a police state," he said in a Twitterposting.
AirAsia has also taken its campaign to cyberspace, with those booking flights being greeted by a popout message urging them to support the campaign on top of emails to customers.
"Say NO to Airport Tax Increase - starting 1 December 2011, Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) will increase taxes for all international departing flights.
"AirAsia views that this increase is not justified as the current airport facilities are not up to par," the email reads.
MAHB had in October announced that the Transport Ministry approved its proposal to hike airport levies by 28 percent which means low cost terminals will see theirs rising from RM25 to RM32 and RM41 to RM65 at normal terminals nationwide.
At the time of writing, MAHB could not be reached for comment.
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