AirAsia Boss Hits Out At Malaysian Airport Tax

The Chairman of low-cost carrier AirAsia has hit out at the increase in Passenger Service Charge (PSC) rates that will impact all international flights departing from airports throughout Malaysia from December 1. According to Aziz Bakar, the charge, commonly referred to as ‘airport tax’, is collected by the carrier for Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) and as it is being added to the price of all tickets, the airline is seen as profiteering from what he describes as not justified.

“As a low-cost travel loyalist, we believe that increased cost needs to be justified with good quality facilities and services for everyone, which are definitely not up to par at the moment; space for check-in counters, limited parking space, security, quality of toilets, cleanliness of the facilities are not worth the increase,” he said.

According to Mr Bakar, the new charges, which are around 28 per cent higher than previously, could influence the airline’s network strategy. “Travellers in Kuching and Langkawi have demanded for more international routes, but we might not be able to fulfill this as the raised airport tax will decrease the demand for travel. The substantial price of RM65 is almost half the price of our international route fare. This will discourage people from taking holidays and put the tourism industry at a major risk,” he added.