Eaglexpress, Suasa Airlines join AirAsia call to abolish Mavcom

Bernama reported earlier that charter airlines Eaglexpress Air Charter Sdn Bhd and Suasa Airlines Sdn Bhd alleged Mavcom to have suppressed the domestic aviation industry, instead of encouraging it. Both airlines have also blamed Mavcom for their operational failure.

KUALA LUMPUR: Two charter airlines, Eaglexpress Air Charter Sdn Bhd and Suasa Airlines Sdn Bhd, have joined AirAsia in urging the new government to abolish the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom).

Eaglexpress President Captain Azlan Zainal Abidin and Suasa CEO Captain Sheikh Salleh Abod said the regulator has not played its role in encouraging the aviation industry to grow but has instead suppressed it.

"They (Mavcom) have practically killed us (the industry). The new Transport Minister should look at the function of Mavcom whether it is still a viable thing to have.

"We hope the accountability will be there (unlike the previous government) because Eaglexpress has been subjected to a lot of unfairness by Mavcom," he told a press conference here today.

Azlan and Syeikh Salleh strongly opined that the Air Service Permit (ASP), which is currently administered by Mavcom, should be returned to the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM).

They said prior to the formation of Mavcom, everything was run under CAAM together with the Transport Ministry, with all tasks performed efficiently.

"In the past when CAAM was managing the country's airline scene, it was less than 10 people. It was efficient and certainly did not incur a high cost, which I think was like around RM50,000 per year," said Sheikh Salleh.

Mavcom was established on March 1, 2016 under the Malaysian Aviation Commission Act 2015 to regulate economic and commercial matters related to civil aviation in Malaysia.

Following this, the application for an Air Service Licence (ASL) or ASP should be made through Mavcom rather than the DCA.

Months after its inception, the industry saw Eagleexpress' ASP revoked by Mavcom in December 2016 as the umrah and haj pilgrim carrier did not meet the statutory requirement of having a minimum of RM30 million in account while Suasa's licence was suspended. - Bernama