Disband Mavcom, urge 2 more firms
KUALA LUMPUR: Two aviation companies have urged the government to review the function of the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) or disband it altogether.
Eaglexpress Air Charter Sdn Bhd, which is based in Saudi Arabia, and Suasa Airlines Sdn Bhd said they wanted the government to look into the purpose of Mavcom, which they claimed had treated them unfairly and caused them hundreds of millions of ringgit in losses.
Eaglexpress president Captain Azlan Zainal Abidin said Mavcom had revoked his company’s air service permit (ASP) in 2016 because it could not come up with RM300 million cash reserves required.
“It was a requirement by Mavcom and when we could not comply in time, they revoked our ASP.”
Azlan claimed that Eaglexpress had forked out millions of ringgit to settle the issue and had to retrench its staff.
“We seek for the government and the Transport Ministry to review the function of Mavcom. We have been treated unfairly and we lost a lot of money.”
It was reported that Mavcom had not allowed Eaglexpress, an airline catering mainly to those performing umrah or haj, to operate since December 2016.
Mavcom had said if the airline continued to provide such services, it would be committing an offence under the Malaysian Aviation Commission Act 2015.
The commission had initially granted a 12-month ASP to Eaglexpress (from September 1 2016 to August 31 last year) under specific conditions.
However, Eaglexpress failed to comply with the conditions.
“We are planning to start up a new aviation company and hoping to get overseas investors to assist us in this new airline.”
Meanwhile, Suasa Airlines chief executive officer Captain Sheikh Salleh Abod said it had yet to receive an ASP from Mavcom, leaving the airline in limbo.
He said the company suffered RM15 million losses and was forced to sell two aircraft and retrench more than 70 employees.
“We sought approval from the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) for a non-commercial demonstration flight from Kuala Lumpur to Langkawi in 2016. The DCA gave us the approval and so did Mavcom.
“However, the commission then said it would investigate why we flew without its approval. They lodged a police report against us,” he said.