Steep rise in annual aviation licensing fees from 2025

 

The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia is to charge fees for operating unmanned aircraft and drones, including those used for surveillance and filming and recreational model aircraft flying. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) has given industry players a heads-up over the revision of some existing charges and the introduction of new fees in a move to make the body less dependent on the government.

CAAM said the aviation authority currently depends on an annual injection of between RM320 million to RM350 million from Putrajaya for its upkeep.

According to the aviation notice, seven fees will be increased, with the largest increase being the renewal of certificates for multi-runway aerodromes, which is currently fixed at RM25,000.

It will be raised to RM300,000 in 2025 for aerodromes with two runways, to RM390,000 three years after that, and then to RM468,000 by 2031.

For single runway aerodromes, the fee will be RM225,000 in 2025, RM292,000 in 2028 and RM351,000 three years after.

Most of the other affected increases, like the renewal of air operator licence, airworthiness certificates, maintenance and ground-handling services, will see increases of 50% to 100% over a six-year period.

In a notice to all aviation-linked organisations recently, CAAM chief executive Norazman Mahmud said this will be done in stages from January 2025 in order to give operators enough time to prepare for the higher fees.

Among the new fees are 25 linked to unmanned aircraft and drone operations, and cargo and aerodrome security charges.

Airlines will be required to pay two sen per kg for cargo security from 2025 and 25 sen per passenger for aerodrome security from 2028.

The introduction of licensing and authorisation fees to operate unmanned aircraft and drones will include those used for surveillance, spraying, mapping, filming and recreational model aircraft flying.

CAAM will introduce fees for annual renewals, specific operations and use of airspace in both controlled and uncontrolled airspace.

Currently, most of the categories of unmanned aircraft and drones only require authorisation from CAAM to operate each time, with no requirement for annual licences. It is unclear how this will impact television and online news networks, commercial videographers, and hobby photographers. - FMT