No decision yet on proposed passenger service charges hike, Dewan Rakyat told

The government has not made any decision on the proposal by Malaysia Airport Holdings Bhd (MAHB) to increase the passenger service charges (PSC), the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Ab Aziz Kaprawi said the ministry was still studying the proposal to ensure that it would not burden the people as well bring about negative impact on airlines, particularly local carriers.

"MAHB has proposed to increase the PSC but until now, we have yet to decide on the matter. Therefore the hike in PSC issue should not have arisen," he said in reply to a question from Datuk Mohd Zaim Abu Hasan (BN-Parit) on the matter.

Replying to a supplementary question from Mohd Zaim on the recent hike in the air navigation facility charges (ANFC) by the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA), Ab Aziz said the increase did not significantly influence the flight ticket price.

He said the government would ensure that the increase would not burden passengers, especially domestic passengers, who have been using air flights as their primary mode of transport.

Ab Aziz said 55 per cent of the 85 million air passengers were domestic.

"I was told that DCA is offering discounts of up to 50 per cent to passengers at rural airports including in Sabah and Sarawak. This ensures low domestic flight ticket prices despite the increase in the ANFC," he said.

DCA had in April announced that it would increase the ANFC to airline operators in stages with a maximum one-fold increase.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the inevitable decision was made as ANFC had not been revised for well over 40 years as well as other charges such as the issuance of Air Operators Certificate or Certificate of Airworthiness which had not been revised since 1996.