MAHB rubbishes AirAsia chief’s comments

PETALING JAYA (Feb 24, 2014): Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) defended the state of its finances following scathing remarks by low-cost carrier AirAsia Bhd group CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes last week.
In a statement released Friday, MAHB clarified that its financial performance has been showing consistent profits yearly since its incorporation 22 years ago and that AirAsia has been a beneficiary of its strong financial performance, having received the most incentives over the last 10 years. This was despite it not being the airline that contributed the highest number of passengers or revenue.
Criticism made by Fernandes on Feb 19, MAHB said, has resulted in several enquiries being directed to the airport operator, in particular by its shareholders.
"While it is not MAHB's policy to comment on statements made by our partners, but in this case we have been advised that as a public listed company, we need to correct the information related to MAHB," it said.
In its 15 years as a public listed company, MAHB said it has continually paid concession fees and taxes to the government, issued dividends to shareholders, paid incentives to airlines, and remained profitable.
For the financial year ended Dec 31, 2013, MAHB's net profit slipped marginally by 1.4% to RM388.9 million from RM394.5 million a year earlier.
MAHB said it has specifically introduced an incentive program to support the growth of AirAsia, at its infancy stage. "This had facilitated AirAsia's growth to become the successful airline that it is today," it said.
The move by MAHB saw Fernandes take to twitter again over the weekend stating that the airline had worked for the incentives given. He went on to say that his main concern is that the cost overruns at klia2 will not translate to higher passenger service charges for travellers.