KUALA LUMPUR (June 28): Two subsidiaries of Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (KL:AIRPORT) are seeking a summary judgement from the High Court against MYAirline Sdn Bhd in their claim for over RM17 million in overdue airport service charges owed by the troubled carrier.
This follows the filing of a lawsuit by Malaysia Airports Sdn Bhd (MASB) and Malaysia Airports Sepang Sdn Bhd against MyAirline last October, which was not reported previously, demanding the airline to pay the sum owed.
MyAirline has filed an application to strike out the suit, and the oral submissions were heard on Friday before Judicial Commissioner (JC) Gan Techiong, who has fixed Aug 16 to decide on the airline's application.
Should MyAirline fail to strike out the suit, the JC would then proceed to hear MASB and MASSB's bid for a summary judgment.
MASB and MASSB — represented by Shannon Rajan, Eric Gomez and Katelyn Yeoh from Messrs Skrine — applied for the summary judgement on Nov 11, 2023 following a statement of claim filed against the airline a month earlier. MYAirline was represented by Nasema Jalaludheen.
Gomez, when contacted by The Edge, confirmed the outcome of Friday’s proceedings.
The airport operators argued for a summary judgement as MYAirline has not filed any defence to the suit that they filed. MYAirline took the position that the plaintiffs should have resorted to the dispute resolution mechanism provided under sections 74 to 78 of the Malaysia Aviation Commission Act 2015, before filing the civil suit against MYA.
MYAirline owes MASB RM8.36 million and MASSB RM9.1 million in overdue airport service charges.
The charges imposed on the airline by MASSB were for the use of airport services and facilities at KLIA Terminal 2 or KLIA2, while the charges imposed by MASB were for use of the same at eight other airports under MAHB. Outstanding charges include check-in charges, aerobridge charges and late payment charges incurred since March last year.
The airline has suspended operations since Oct 12 last year.
On top of the overdue airport service charges, MASB and MASSB also sought general damages, interests and costs of the action.
*This article has been updated for accuracy