AirAsia to collect increased PSC under protest

“AirAsia will now collect the additional RM23 in PSC, and the differential amount will be clearly indicated in the itemised fare as ‘PSC (Under Protest)’, ” the company said in a statement.

PETALING JAYA: AirAsia Group Bhd will collect the increased passenger service charge (PSC) levied by Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) from midnight tonight under protest.

This comes following the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s dismissal of AirAsia and AirAsia X Bhd’s (AAX) striking out application in relation to the payment of outstanding PSC to Malaysia Airports (Sepang) Sdn Bhd (MASSB), a subsidiary of MAHB.

“AirAsia will now collect the additional RM23 in PSC, and the differential amount will be clearly indicated in the itemised fare as ‘PSC (Under Protest)’, ” the company said in a statement.

The PSC, or airport tax, is charged by MAHB on all departing passengers for the use of airport facilities and is collected by airlines such as AirAsia on behalf of the airport operator.

AirAsia Malaysia CEO Riad Asmat said the itemisation would allow its guests to see how much they are paying for what the airline alleges are “inferior facilities” in klia2.

“I believe many will agree with us that they’re not getting their money’s worth, especially when compared to the far superior facilities at KLIA, ” he added.

“This is an arbitrary hike and we will continue to oppose it until all our legal options are exhausted, ” AAX CEO Benyamin Ismail said.

Effective July 2018, MAHB raised the PSC for passengers using klia2 to destinations beyond Asean to RM73, which is the same rate as for the full-service terminal KLIA, from RM50 previously.

However, AirAsia refused to collect the RM23 difference in a bid to maintain the affordability of the charges for its guests.

According to the statement, the PSC for passengers flying beyond Asean has more than doubled from RM32 to RM73 in less than two years.