PETALING JAYA: Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) has proposed a passenger service charge (PSC) of between RM35 and RM60 for international flights out of Malaysia, depending on the airport of departure.
Currently, the PSC for flights to Asean destinations is RM35 and beyond RM73, while the domestic PSC is RM11. The current rates are the same for flights departing from all Malaysian airports.
MAHB proposed to increase the PSC for domestic destinations to RM14, from RM11 currently.
In addition, it proposed to introduce a transfer PSC of RM3 and RM17 for domestic and international flights respectively.
The transfer PSC is for all passengers on transit and transfer for up to 24 hours. Transfer/transit passengers departing more than 24 hours after arrival at the airport are to be considered as originating passengers who will be required to pay the relevant PSC in full.
In its second consultation paper on aeronautical charges framework released yesterday, the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) said the airport operator proposed to equalise the PSC for Asean and beyond Asean flights, combining all such flights into one international category.
The rates for international flights vary, depending on which Malaysian airport the passenger departs from. The proposed PSCs are RM60 for flights from Kuala Lumpur, RM59 from Penang and RM55 from Langkawi, Subang, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching.
For flights departing from Miri, Sibu and other airports, the PSC has been proposed to be RM35.
MAHB also submitted two other options for the proposed tariffs. For all three options, MAHB is proposing for total landing and parking regulated revenues to increase by 16% in 2020.
However, MAHB noted that the proposed PSC of RM35 to RM60 for international passengers and RM14 for domestic passengers is the only option that will result in tariffs for other airports being lower than Kuala Lumpur.
The other options include international PSCs of between RM35 and RM114 while maintaining the domestic PSC at RM11. Under this option, the PSC for international flights departing from Kuching would be a whopping RM114, higher than RM62 for flights departing from Kuala Lumpur.
Meanwhile, the third option includes keeping the three-tier PSCs of domestic, Asean and beyond Asean. Under this option, the PSC for Asean destinations would range from RM35 to RM56 while for destinations beyond Asean, the PSC would range from RM35 to RM80. The PSC for domestic flights would be increased to RM14.
The third option would result in the PSC for flights to Asean destinations departing from Penang set at RM56 and that for flights departing from Kota Kinabalu and Kuching at RM53, which are higher than RM38 for flights from Kuala Lumpur.
Mavcom will carry out a consultation process to provide stakeholders the opportunity to provide additional information before announcing its final decision in October. Stakeholders have four weeks up till July 18 to provide written responses.
