Passenger Service Charges for domestic, international flights go up

However, the charges for flights to Asean countries are reduced drastically by RM30.

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) has revised Passenger Service Charges (PSC) for all airports starting January 1, 2017, with higher charges for domestic and international flights.

The new fares will be applicable to tickets issued from January 1 onwards.

Of all the airports, klia2 will see the biggest jump in PSC, with an RM18 increase for international flights and an RM5 increase for domestic flights.

The PSC for domestic flights has been standardised at RM11 for all airports. It was previously RM9 for KLIA and all other airports and RM6 for klia2.

For international flights, the new PSC for klia2 is RM50, a major increase from the current RM32, while for KLIA and all other airports, the PSC for international flights is now set at RM73, an RM8 increase from the current RM65 charge.

However, PSC for flights to Asean countries has seen a massive reduction of RM30 at almost all airports. Those travelling from KLIA, klia2 and all other airports will now pay a standardised PSC of RM35.

In the statement, Mavcom also said that it would gradually equalise PSC at KLIA and klia2 to facilitate a level playing field and perform a review of the PSC in a year’s time with a view to equalise the PSC at KLIA and klia2 for international flights beyond Asean.

“Mavcom is of the view that in the long term, equalised PSC rates will facilitate an environment of fairer competition between airlines operating at these two terminals,” it said, adding that equalisation of PSC rates between KLIA and klia2 enabled better adherence to international guidelines on non-discriminatory pricing at airports.

Despite the increases in the domestic and international PSC, Mavcom said that passenger airport charges in Malaysia remained amongst the lowest regionally and globally, compared to international Asian airports such Singapore’s Changi Airport, Thailand’s Don Mueang and Suvarnabhumi airports, as well as the international airports of Manila, Phnom Penh, Delhi, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo amongst others.

Mavcom also said it was currently developing a framework that links aeronautical revenues to customers’ and stakeholders’ satisfaction levels, which would be introduced in 2017. This, it said served to ensure airport operators remained committed and accountable for improving airport service levels and financial efficiency.

In September, English daily TheSun, quoting sources, reported that PSC rates were set to be revised and that the Cabinet had approved the new rates.

Subsequently, Sarawak Barisan Nasional lawmakers urged Putrajaya to reconsider the impending hike, saying air travellers in the state were already burdened with costly domestic travel as they had few alternatives.