MAHB welcomes new PSC rate

Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) said it will give its cooperation to implement the Passenger Service Charges (PSC) as regulated.

The Malaysian Aviation Commission (MAVCOM) today announced a revision to the PSC for airports in Malaysia.

The revised rates will come into effect on Jan 1, 2017 and would be applicable to tickets issued from that date onwards.

A gradual equalization of PSC at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and klia2 will also be introduced in stages to facilitate a level playing field.

"While there is still a differentiation between KLIA and klia2 for international PSC at RM73 and RM50 respectively, we welcome this current move by the authorities as the first step towards the equalization of PSC for all airports and terminals, in line with worldwide common industry practice," MAHB said in a subsequent statement.

International PSC at KLIA and klia2 stands at RM65 and RM32 respectively. It will be revised to RM73 and RM50 respectively come Jan 1.

While the new ASEAN PSC tier at RM35 per departing passenger is reduced by RM30 from the current RM65 per departing passenger.

"With the equalisation for the ASEAN PSC for all airports in Malaysia, we hope this will stimulate a much higher ASEAN traffic growth into Malaysia thus benefiting the country," the statement said.

MAHB said it did not expect material financial benefit to the company following the revised rate as the increase in international and domestic PSC is counter balanced by the reduction in the ASEAN PSC across all airports.

In 2015, ASEAN traffic constitutes almost 50 percent of MAHB's international traffic.