Net profit surged 81 per cent to RM915.9 million
Net profit, however, surged about 81 per cent to RM915.9 million, mainly due to one- off gains from the sale of its stake in AAE Travel Pte Ltd to Expedia and the reversal of deferred tax liabilities arising from aircraft disposals.
As for Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd ( MAHB), net profit doubled to RM168.49 million in Q3 2018 from RM80.93 million a year earlier, prompted by higher passenger growth for Malaysia and growth momentum in Turkey, while revenue improved to RM1.23 bi l l ion from RM1.21 bi l l ion previously.
Among major issues for this year was the never- ending spat between MAHB and AAG, this time over the RM23 additional passenger service charge ( PSC) that the airline refused to collect as it viewed that the extra tax would burden the travelling public by making them pay more for “below par” services.
AAG CEO Tan Sri Tony FernandesslammedtheMalaysian Aviation Commission ( Mavcom) and MAHB for not looking at all possible solutions for PSCs and adopting a one- size-fits- all approach.
He believed the calculation mechanism was “not fair” as the passengers would be charged the same airport tax for the Kuala Lumpur International Airport ( KLIA) and KLIA2 although the facilities and services are of completely different levels.
This has resulted in a combined RM36.1 million lawsuit by MAHB’s subsidiary Malaysia Airports (Sepang) Sdn Bhd against AAG’s unit AirAsia Bhd (AAB) and its long-haul affiliate AirAsia X Bhd for outstanding airport taxes.
Another major development in the industry was the massive internal reorganisation and the transfer of the listing status of AAB to the new holding company AAG, which was completed in April.
The exercise unified AAB’s various regional affiliates under one holding company, providing the group with further cost reduction through streamlining group cost structure while taking out the complexity and duplication in its operations.
Another issue was when MAB’s full subsidiary FlyFirefly Sdn Bhd, which operates as Firefly, took a hit from the unresolved issue between the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia and Singapore Seletar Airport, causing suspension of services to and from Singapore effective Dec 1, 2018.
Meanwhi le, 2018 also saw quite a number of appointments and removals in the top management due to either internal reorganisation or changes in the government administration.
In February, Malaysia Aviation Group ( MAG) appointed Ahmad Luqman Mohd Azmi as the new chief operations officer (COO) of MAB, replacing Izham Ismail who was promoted as Group CEO.
MAG also named Philip See as Firefly’s new CEO, replacing Ignatius Ong who joined MAB as group chief revenue officer in June 2018, as well as Ibrahim Mohamed Salleh as CEO of MABKargo.
Another appointment was Dr Nungsari Ahmad Radhi, an economist and former lawmaker, as Mavcom’s new executive chairman, took over from General ( Rtd) Tan Sri Abdullah Ahmad, who had resigned and was reported to have earned a whopping RM80,000 a month.
Operation- wise, MAB has expanded its network with the resumption of flights to Brisbane, Australia, and London, England. — Bernama