Govt: PSC rates won’t affect international tourist arrivals

Deputy Transport Minister Ab Aziz Kaprawi says PSC rate of RM73 to international destinations besides Asean in klia2, is the lowest rate in the world.

SEPANG: The decision to equalise Passenger Service Charge (PSC) rates between the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2) starting Jan 1 will not affect the arrival of international tourists to the country.

Deputy Transport Minister Ab Aziz Kaprawi said the PSC rate of RM73 to international destinations besides Asean in klia2 was the lowest rate in the world.

While criticising a claim by DAP’s Tony Pua, Ab Aziz said the decision was also in line with the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) guidelines of non-discriminatory pricing at airports.

“Therefore we want to create a fairer industry. So far the arrival of tourists in Malaysia is increasing,” he told reporters after officiating the Malaysia Youth Zapin Open Festival, here today.

The Malaysian Aviation Commission (MAVCOM) announced the international PSC rate at klia2 would be raised to RM73 starting January next year, equal to the international departure rate at all airports in Malaysia.

In fact he said, Asean departures had been equalised to the lower rate of RM35, which benefited a large number of Malaysians.

Pua recently claimed that the decision to equalise the fees charged by klia2 as a low-cost terminal and KLIA was unreasonable, as the quality of service at klia2 was inferior to that of KLIA.

Meanwhile Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) managing director Badlisham Ghazali said collection from the PSC would be used to upgrade facilities in airports under MAHB.

“The PSC in klia2 is equal to the PSC in airports that provide international departures such as in Penang, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Langkawi and Senai.

“Tony Pua always compares facilities in KLIA and klia2. Klia2 has the most modern luggage handling system compared to KLIA. That is the advantage of klia2,” he said.

He added that KLIA had recorded traffic of about 38 million international passengers and covered more than 70% of the total number of passengers. -FMT