6 November 2023
Malaysia will review conditions for granting licences to new airlines after financial troubles forced a low-cost start-up carrier to abruptly suspend its services.
Conditions need to be more stringent and additional background checks should be done to ensure the “competency and financial strength” of companies applying for an air service licence, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said in an interview last Thursday, without going into further detail.
Selangor-based MYAirline suspended operations just 10 months after it started flying, prompting the authorities to halt its licence while also initiating a money laundering investigation against individuals involved with the airline.
The Business Times reported on Monday that MYAirline no longer has leases on its 10 Airbus SE A320 planes.
MYAirline is the second Malaysian airline start-up to run into trouble within months of beginning operations.
In 2016, Rayani Air, a full-service carrier, lasted less than four months following technical issues, a pilot strike and a restructuring. The Malaysian authorities permanently revoked its licence later that year.
Mr Loke, however, said there needs to be a balanced approach so as to not stifle competition.
“The process has to be strengthened but not to the point where we immediately close our gate,” he said. “Then you end up creating a ring fence for existing players, (and) no others will come in.”
Mr Loke also said that financial sustainability is a pressing issue for airport operators as Malaysia looks to attract investment from the private sector to make its airports more commercially viable.
Not all of the 39 airports that Malaysia’s main airport operator, Malaysia Airports Holdings, operates are commercially viable, with some requiring state funding, Mr Loke said.
Malaysia Airports is working to revamp the country’s main terminal at the 25-year-old Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) as it seeks to turn the aerodrome into a hub rather than a “feeder airport,” via strategic tie-ups and code-sharing agreements with regional airlines, the minister added.
– BLOOMBERG
- How to protect yourself from airline suspensions and cancelled flights
- Malaysia reviews conditions for granting licences after start-up MYAirline’s woes
- Loke tells airlines, airport operators to expand beyond traditional markets
- MAHB: Recovery in 3Q boosted by new routes and Airlines joining KLIA
- MYAirline’s AOC revoked days after airline suspends operations
- ‘Let down’ by investors
- An important lesson to learn from sudden collaspe of MYAirline
- MYAirline fiasco: Do we have one too many airlines
- AirAsia looks to lease aircrafts used by MyAirline
- MYAirline’s Air Operator Certificate suspended for 90 days
Source: www.straitstimes.com
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