MAHB: Most airports in Malaysia not commercially viable

KUALA LUMPUR: More than 75% of airports in Malaysia are not commercially viable and are managed on a cross-subsidisation model to provide the Malaysian people with the required connectivity among its smaller towns and rural outposts.

Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB), which manages a network of 39 airports – five international airports, 16 domestic airports and 18 short-takeoff and landing (STOL) ports in Malaysia, said maintaining this network of airports involved a huge outlay of both capital and operational expenses.

The airport operator said in a statement, that it has been supporting the growth of airlines operating in Malaysia throughout the years with its low charges and incentive programmes.

“In the case of low-cost airlines operating at our airports, over the last ten years this had amounted to more than RM1.5bil market advantage through differentiated charges excluding the incentives,” it said in response to an article published in a local daily last week.

The article, among others, said the absolute lack of competition meant that passenger service charge (PSC) can be imposed on passengers, as well as, any landing, parking fees and ancillary charges can be imposed on airlines.

MAHB said the article was incorrect as airport charges were regulated by the Government while airport operations and management in Malaysia were done in a highly regulated environment.

Prior to the formation of the Malaysian Aviation Commission (MAVCOM), this decision was under the purview of the Transport Ministry.

It was made known by MAVCOM that in determining the charges, the commission had engaged a world-renowned consultant to perform a detailed independent research and gone through a comprehensive user consultation process.