28 December 2017
The growing arguments over whether the equalisation of klia2 Passenger Service Charge (PSC) for non-Asean routes from RM50 to RM73 should never have become a issue, said an aviation source.
The source said all other airports in the country are paying the same charge, so why should klia2 be given special treatment.
"All airlines operating out of klia2 had been given a year to get ready for the increase and just as it's about to be implemented it becomes a big issue," the source said.
Citing the example of Penang International Airport, Kuching and Kinabalu, the source said all passengers flying out of those airports to non-Asean destinations have been paying the full PSC charges of RM73.
The source added those making the argument that klia2 services are not very good does not hold water as they are trying to say that services at the other international airports are better than klia2.
Since January, the PSC rates have been equalised for all airports at RM73 for non-Asean, RM35 for Asean and RM11 for domestic, with the exception of non-Asean PSC rates specifically at klia2 that remained at RM50.
MAHB said the new tier for Asean PSC rate saw a reduction of 46% from RM65 to RM35 that benefited about 18 million passengers.
The airport operator said this last phase of equalisation is for non-Asean international PSC at klia2 from RM50 to RM73, involving about 4.5 million departing passengers a year of which about 70% or three million are foreigners.
Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) executive chairman General (Rtd) Tan Sri Abdullah Ahmad recently said the government will be forced to fork out RM60 million in subsidies if the PSC for non-Asean destinations at klia2 are not equalised.
He said passengers using the airport should rightly take up the higher charges and not the rakyat, some of whom have not even entered an aircraft or taken a flight.
The source said according to MAHB statistics, 70% of departing passengers to non-Asean destinations are foreigners, so why should the government subsidise their PSC?
The source pointed out, the PSC of flights between Ipoh and Singapore is RM35, the same as klia2, which is a better airport than Ipoh.
Original Source: thesundaily
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