Mavcom denies allegations, says decisions made to protect airline users in M’sia

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) has refuted the recent statements made by two now-defunct aviation companies, which called for the abolition of the commission due to alleged unfair treatment and ineffectiveness.

In denying the allegations, Mavcom insists that its decisions were made to protect airline users in Malaysia.

Bernama reported earlier that charter airlines Eaglexpress Air Charter Sdn Bhd and Suasa Airlines Sdn Bhd alleged Mavcom to have suppressed the domestic aviation industry, instead of encouraging it. Both airlines have also blamed Mavcom for their operational failure.

Eaglexpress president Captain Azlan Zainal Abidin and Suasa chief executive Captain Sheikh Salleh Abod also urged the government to abolish Mavcom.

In response to the allegations, Mavcom said that the winding down of Eaglexpress and Suasa showed that “operating an airline is extremely challenging and requires a high degree of planning, financial depth, operational know-how and execution competency”.

On Suasa, Mavcom said the charter airline continued to operate a commercial flight from Kuala Lumpur to Langkawi on July 22, 2016, despite the commission rejecting the company’s application for the flight as it did not possess an ASP.

“However, on the same day, Suasa Airlines continued to operate this flight on the pretext of a “demonstration flight”.

The return “demonstration flight” on July 22, 2016 from Kuala Lumpur to Langkawi carried a total of 140 passengers each way and is not considered as a “demonstration flight” as per the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s classification.

“On January 9, 2017, Suasa Airlines pleaded guilty at the Sepang Sessions Court for operating without a valid ASP and was fined RM380,000.

“Suasa Airlines pleaded guilty to carrying passengers for hire or reward on a non-scheduled journey between Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi without a valid ASP in contravention of section 36 of the Mavcom Act 2015,” it said in a statement yesterday.

Meanwhile, with regard to Eaglexpress, Mavcom said that the company’s ASP was revoked due to its failure to meet several requirements imposed by the commission within a stipulated timeframe.

The unmet requirements were the conversion of Eaglexpress’ current negative shareholders’ equity to a positive position by end-November 2016, and increase the company’s cash level to RM30mil being equivalent to approximately two months of projected operating cost for 2016 by end-November 2016.

Apart from that, Eaglexpress was required to resolve all long-standing pending salary and relevant employee benefits payment by Oct 30, 2016 and normalise the salary and benefits payment from November 2016 onwards.

“Eaglexpress had applied for a judicial review of Mavcom’s decision to revoke its ASP at the Kuala Lumpur High Court. On Aug 14, 2017, Eaglexpress’ application was dismissed by the High Court with costs of RM10,000 to be paid by Eaglexpress to Mavcom.

“The commission’s responsibility is to ensure enterprises participating in the industry are properly equipped and ready, in order to safeguard consumers’ safety and interest. As an independent economic regulatory body established pursuant to Act 771, Mavcom’s mission is to promote and ensure a commercially viable, consumer-oriented and resilient civil aviation industry that supports Malaysia’s growth,” the commission said.