PETALING JAYA: Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) says klia2, the airport built by the government to replace the former Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT), is not a low-cost carrier airport terminal.
The airport operator said this was the understanding it had with the government since the decision was made to have low-cost carriers, otherwise known as budget airlines, to use the new airport instead of LCCT.
“Together with the government, we made the strategic decision to build a second permanent terminal for KLIA that will accommodate increased capacity requirements, or in other words, future growth.
“In building it, the needs of all stakeholders including airlines, government authorities and the community were considered and accommodated,” MAHB said in a statement today.
MAHB said this approach was necessary to serve the needs of the country’s current and future civil aviation industry.
The statement follows the uproar over the standardising of passenger service charges (PSC) between the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and klia2, with airline operators, opposition leaders and passengers complaining over having to pay the same amount for inferior services.
MAHB however denied this was case, saying “this development has no bearing on the PSC rates”.
On Nov 30, the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) said the PSC would be fully equalised and implemented at every airport in Malaysia.
It announced that from Jan 1, the PSC rate for all international destinations from any Malaysian airport will be RM73. Currently, the PSC rate applicable at non-Asean international destinations from klia2 is RM50. All other PSC rates will remain unchanged.
Mavcom said the PSC between klia2 and KLIA should be equalised as the two airports provided a similar quality of service.
According to MAHB, Mavcom had stated its position that the equalisation would facilitate an environment of fairer competition between airlines operating at KLIA and klia2, as well as “allow Malaysia to be better aligned to international guidelines, including with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) principle of non-discriminatory pricing at airports”.
“This was carried out after an extensive study conducted by Mavcom on aviation charges across the industry,” MAHB said, adding that the PSC rate was independent of the cost of airport development.
“Whereas some other countries charge passengers with a separate airport development fee in addition to the PSC, this is not the case in Malaysia.
“Our PSC rates remain one of the cheapest in the region and in the world, even after the full equalisation.”
‘Passengers need to walk long distances at klia2’
On Friday, Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua has criticised MAHB and Mavcom over its statement that both KLIA and klia2 “provided a similar quality of service”.
He pointed to the long distances passengers needed to cover on foot at klia2, and the smaller check-in area with fewer counters despite the fact that klia2 had been designed for a higher passenger capacity (45 million people per year) than KLIA (30 million people per year).
Airline operators were also inconvenienced by the greater distance from the KLAS Cargo and catering building. Besides these issues, there was also the controversy surrounding the construction of klia2 which was riddled with problems such as sinking soil at aprons and runways.
“Anyone who’s used the two airports would know that the level of service provided is far from the same.
“It boggles the mind how Mavcom has decided to treat the airport as an equal to KLIA, and in doing so make passengers at the lesser airport bear a greater cost,” Pua said in a statement.
According to Pua, the real reason for the hike in PSC was the “astronomical cost overruns” linked to klia2. -FMT
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