KUALA LUMPUR (July 19): Low-cost carrier AirAsia Bhd founder and group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes has drawn a comparison between the quality of service provided in the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and klia2 in explaining his reasons for not wanting to charge customers the higher mandated passenger service charge (PSC).
"It's like saying Tune hotel a budget hotel should charge the same as the Shang-ri La five star hotel," shared Fernandes in a tweet this morning.
He added that if anyone says the two terminals are the same, that person should go and visit them to see with his or her own eyes the quality of service provided at the two terminals.
"It's important to note that @AirAsia does not pay airport tax. You the passengers do. We will continue the fight on YOUR behalf.
"We don't think passengers who use [klia2] should pay the same as those who use [KLIA]," emphasised Fernandes, adding that the low-cost carrier has always asked for simple facilities with low airport tax.
This follows Fernandes' tweet yesterday, expressing his disappointment and frustration over the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruling that AirAsia will have to pay at least RM40.73 million to Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB)'s subsidiary Malaysia Airports (Sepang) Sdn Bhd over unpaid PSC charges from July to December last year.
The court had also earlier dismissed the carrier's application to strike out three suits launched against it by MAHB and summary judgements obtained by the airport operator.
PSC is paid by departing passengers and is collected by airlines, which then pass it to MAHB once the flight has been completed.
From July 1, 2018, departing passengers could be charged as much as RM73 for PSC.
As of 10:50am, shares in AirAsia Group rose 0.7% or two sen to RM2.88, with 2.43 million shares traded, giving it a market capitalisation of RM9.56 billion.
Meanwhile, shares in MAHB traded 1.05% or nine sen higher to RM8.65, with 313,700 shares traded, giving it a market capitalisation of RM14.2 billion.